By Jon Geddes

EASTWOOD hooker Ed Craig leads his teammates in prayers before the game - and then in the boatrace afterwards.

Besides displaying his value to the Woodies by scoring four tries in last Sunday’s 54-20 semi-final win over Manly, Craig also has the role of club chaplain.

The 27-year- old forward, who will again be a key man for the Woodies in Saturday’s final against Randwick at North Sydney Oval, is one those special footballers who makes as big a contribution off the field as he does on it.   

“I’m a devout Christian,” said Craig, who is also the assistant head of Christian Studies at Shore school in North Sydney.

“I lead the prayers before the game each week,” he said. “In the period when we come back from warm-up and we are putting the jerseys on, we literally say ‘anyone who wants to pray, come to this corner’. And you never know who is going to join in.ed Craig