On a day of throwbacks, Canterbury drew their second-biggest crowd at Belmore since the Super League war, before holding on for a thrilling see-sawing victory.
In scenes reminiscent of last century, a melee at one stage spilled over the sideline while Bulldogs No.7 Toby Sexton earlier successfully kicked for touch from an optional restart.
Crichton also produced a captain's knock for the ages, proving himself to be Canterbury's most inspirational leader in decades as he played a role in three of their four tries.
But the biggest throwback of all was the result as the Dogs beat Canberra for the first time in 10 outings, and what it means for the ladder.
That's magic from Crichton! 🧙�♂�— NRL (@NRL) #NRLBulldogsRaiders @telstra Moment of the Match pic.twitter.com/3wcqVZTz1CAugust 4, 2024
One of the NRL's most disappointing teams for the past eight years, Canterbury are now fifth with five rounds to play.
Cameron Ciraldo's men look more likely to make the top four than miss the finals, with one more victory from their final five games possibly enough to cement their return.
Crichton was again at the centre of it all on Sunday, with the Bulldogs recruit the clear Dally M captain of the year in waiting.
The centre pushed off a poor attempted tackle from Sebastian Kris to open the scoring, celebrating to a rapturous crowd of 18,110 that looked ready to party.
The Bulldogs captain came to the fore again early in the second half, breaking a 6-6 deadlock when he kicked for himself to score just before the dead-ball line.
And when Canberra fought back from 16-6 down to make it a 16-12, Crichton helped it out to 22-12 when he leapt high to bat back a Matt Burton bomb and pass to Josh Addo-Carr for his second try.
Canberra refused to go away and soon made it 22-18 before Crichton spoiled Canberra's last real attacking play with a crucial tackle on Kris to force an errant pass.
"If someone else won (captain of the year), it would be a bloody good achievement," Ciraldo said.
"I'm biased, but the influence he has been able to have ... across the whole club and on this team.
"We know how good he is in those big moments and pressure game. He led outstandingly today, talking to the boys about what day it was going to be.
"And then when the moment came for him to stand up, he pulled off a moment like that. And that play won us the game.
"His leadership has been outstanding all year, but I thought today was one of his best leadership days."
Stephen Crichton crashes over for the first try of the game against Canberra. (James Gourley/AAP PHOTOS)
For Canberra, they are 10th and only two points out of the finals places.
They have the hardest run home of any team and suffered injuries to Zac Hosking (shoulder) and Morgan Smithies (concussion), but showed plenty of spirit.
That was best typified by one of the try-saving tackles of the year, with diminutive fullback Kaeo Weekes pulling off a one-on-one strip on a rampaging Viliame Kikau close to the line.
"I personally feel we should be a little bit further up on the table, but we're not," Stuart said.
"That effort out there tonight shows that we're worthy of competing for where we are on the table at the moment."
