McCracken played club football in Australia, captaining both the Parramatta Eels and Wests Tigers during his career which ended with a spear tackle which he successfully sued for.
During the Super League war he joined the Parramatta Eels being appointed co-captain, before moving to the Wests Tigers in 2000 where he became the franchise's first captain.
As a result of the Super League war and his mid-season announcement that he would be leaving the Bulldogs at the end of the year to join the ARL loyal club Parramatta, Jarrod McCracken missed out on the Dogs historic 1995 Grand Final win over Manly-Warringah when they became the first team to win the premiership from outside the top four (they finished the regular season in 6th with a 14–8 record compared to Manly finishing 1st with a 20–2 record which included a 26–0 mauling of the renamed Sydney Bulldogs in Round 9 at Parramatta Stadium).
McCracken represented New Zealand 22 times between 1991 and 1999, including helping The Kiwis to reach the Semi-finals of the 1995 Rugby League World Cup in England where again the Aussies were the nemesis, winning 30–20 in extra time after a spirited fightback by the Black and Whites had levelled the scores at 20-all close to the original full-time.
He also played a one-off international for a 'Rest of the World' team in their 28–8 loss against the Australian Rugby League's Kangaroos in mid-1997.
McCracken's football career came to a premature end in round 15 of the 2000 NRL competition in a game against the Melbourne Storm, when Storm players Stephen Kearney (a long time Kiwis team mate and in later years test second-row partner) and Marcus Bai performed a dangerous spear tackle on him, inflicting a career-ending neck injury.
[9] McCracken later successfully sued the Melbourne Storm and the two players involved for general damages, totalling $90,000 plus interest.
[12] Rehabilitation of the affected sites was undertaken as a result of this action by the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency and the Whitsunday Shire Council.
In sentencing, Magistrate Hall said that McCracken had flouted the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act and that it was important to have a level of deterrence.