A New South Wales interstate and Australian international representative winger, he played his whole club career with the North Sydney Bears.

Originally from Forbes, New South Wales, Crippin moved to Sydney where he attended St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill for his last two years of school in 1934 & 35.

Such was his talent, he was selected for representative teams in his first year in first grade, although shoulder injuries had virtually ended his career in 1937.

He marked his arrival with a brilliant 60m try in the second Test but bad-luck struck in the dying stages of the third when an England kick-through bounced back over his head and into the arms of Barney Hudson who scored the series-winning try.

[4] He was selected to play for the 1937-38 Kangaroos but a shoulder dislocation that would sideline a modern-day player for a matter of weeks forced him into early retirement.