Isaac Crowe following in close friend Corey Toole's path to the top

The Gungahlin Eagles flyhalf set the John I Dent Cup alight this season.

So impressive was the 22-year-old, Crowe was last week named the Macdougall Medalist for the competition's player of the year.

It's an honour he's still processing.

"I didn't think I would win it," Crowe said. "It didn't really sink in at the time. It was only when I starting receiving messages congratulating me that it sunk in."

An undersized back with impressive vision, lightning quick speed and silky footwork, Crowe has attracted plenty of admirers this season.

It didn't take long for the comparisons to Corey Toole to start.

Toole is a fellow Gungahlin talent who shot to fame this year after earning a call up with the Australian sevens side. He has signed with the Brumbies for next season.

Again, Crowe is taken aback, honoured just to hear his name mentioned in the same breath as the sevens star.

"I wish I was even close to him," Crowe said when asked about comparisons to his good friend.

To many good judges around Canberra, Crowe is close to Toole, in both physical attributes and talent.

Toole's rise to stardom started with the annual City-Country representative fixture in 2020.

This year's game will be held in Goulburn on Saturday, Crowe to line up for Brumbies City North.

Following this weekend, a Griffins team will be selected to contest the inaugural Australian Rugby Shield.

With Uni-Norths halves Hamish Dawson and Jordan Thompson likely to start at halfback and flyhalf, Crowe will begin the game at fullback before switching to the chief playmaker role.

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With Brumbies officials set to keep a close eye on proceedings, Gungahlin coach Glenn Carey expects Crowe to put on a show.

"This is a real opportunity for Isaac," Carey said. "With his versatility, it gives him a chance to be picked as a starter or a utility.

"His skills and footwork are unbelievable, hopefully we can get the backs enough ball to showcase this."

Crowe's summer will likely involve a number of sevens tournaments.

It's a game his size and skill are well suited to, the electrical apprentice selected in sevens representative teams as a teenager.

Having witnessed Toole take off, Carey is confident Crowe can follow the same trajectory.

"He's a similar player to Corey," Carey said. "I think he's got slightly better footwork than Corey, he's very light on his feet.

"Corey's worked pretty hard defensively, that's been the big area of improvement I've seen in him.

"Crowey doesn't have to do as much defence in the XVs game but in sevens you can't shy away from it. He might need that opportunity to show his wares defensively."

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