A decade on, Huddersfield have reached their first Challenge Cup final since 1962 and Crabtree, considered one of the most promising front-row forwards in the 13-man game, is one of the men most closely associated with the revival in their fortunes.
“It’s not something I’d have predicted, that’s for sure,” he admits. “As a lad in the town, the rugby league club were a bit of a joke: they always seemed to finish bottom of Super League and have big money problems.
“But I started to feel out of place with all those public schoolboys — nothing specific, they were good lads, we just didn’t understand each other. So with living not far from where the Giants were training I toddled along and asked them to have a look at me.” It didn’t need much more than a glance for the Giants to offer Crabtree a place at their academy. His development since has been steadily impressive.
So has that of the club itself. Relegation in 2001 was followed by a swift return to Super League. Quality internationals have been signed to play alongside the home-grown players, attendances have risen to an average of nearly 6,000, and in both 2004 and last year the Giants were contenders for the end of season playoffs. If consistency in Super League has been more elusive this season — Friday night’s close defeat at Wigan means they still have some work to do to ensure safety — another one or two wins would enable coach Jon Sharpe to start thinking about the following year, while for the supporters there has been plenty of compensation in the Cup run.
If the rising profile of the Giants in the town has been massively boosted by their semi-final victory over the Leeds Rhinos, Crabtree has never been hard to recognise. The nephew of the late wrestler Shirley Crabtree, better known as Big Daddy, a distinctive blond mop and battered prop-forward’s nose on top of a 6ft 4in, 16st 8lb frame tend to make him the first man the autograph hunters pick out.
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There are a lot of hefty types in rugby league though, and it is Crabtree’s athleticism, as much as his size, which make people talk about him as a future Great Britain prop. The fact that Sharpe has occasionally selected him at centre confirms he has the sort of pace and footwork, as well as handling skills, to suggest that if he continues to develop, he can become a mainstay of the Lions pack for years to come.
The question mark, and perhaps the only reason why Great Britain coach Brian Noble has yet to be convinced he is ready to make the step up, is simply whether Crabtree is aggressive enough — that edgy drive the Australians sometimes call “mongrel”. A quiet, almost gentle soul off the pitch, where he is happiest in the company of his three young children, Crabtree can sometimes give the impression he struggles to summon up the “in your face” attitude that characterises the likes of Wigan’s Stuart Fielden.
It is an accusation Crabtree has heard before, and he has never had a bigger stage on which to gainsay it.
“It annoys me, because I think in games I show plenty of aggression, but more because I don’t think being prop is about just being a meat-head any more,” he says.
“I’ve got more to offer than that. Fielden is special because he sets new standards in terms of fitness, but he’s not just an enforcer, and neither am I. What I do lack is big-game experience, which is another reason I’m looking forward to the final so much. It’s a chance to show I can do the business when it really matters.”
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Sharpe points out Crabtree’s relative immaturity in a position where experience is very important. “Eorl made a huge impact last year when his emergence caught a few teams by surprise,” says the coach. “This year it’s been tougher because they’ve done their homework, so it was never going to be as easy for him to shine, but what has really impressed me is that he’s still done a great job for us.
“The fact he played more than 50 consecutive games before I gave him a break a couple of weeks ago says it all. He’s kept on putting it all in for us, learning all the while. There’s certainly not many in the game carry the ball as tough and hard as he does, or make hits that rattle people like he does. He’s got a massive future.”
As, insists Sharpe, do the Giants. “The progress we’ve made has been obvious whether you’re on the inside, and people are coming up to you in the streets, or outside looking at how competitive we are.
“Up to now it’s been steady, rather than spectacular, so reaching the final is a very important step, something which could turn out to mark a real transition. Selling the club to players I want to sign has never really been a problem in any case, but I’m aware some critics have said players like Eorl might have to move to a so-called bigger club to play high-pressure games and get international recognition.
“Well, most of those bigger clubs won’t be walking out at Twickenham on Saturday.”
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The other which will is, of course, St Helens. The bookies make the men from Knowsley Road 16-point favourites to win, and there is a real fear this could be one of the most one-sided finals for years. Not according to Crabtree.
“Saints are a great team, and if you give them the opportunity they’ll rip you to shreds,” he acknowledges. “They’re dangerous wherever you look.
“But if we get in their faces and stop them getting into a rhythm, we have a good chance. We’ve got plenty of quality too, and though we’ve not had a great run of results recently, if you analyse all those games there have been a lot more positives than negatives.
“It’s been little spells when we’ve lost concentration, or made a daft mistake, that have cost us.
“Against Saints you won’t get away with being anything less than 100% — but if you’re not totally committed and focused for a game like this, you never will be. It’s not about what they might do to us. It’s about we can do to them.”