Creffier, who has been living and playing in Auckland for the past two years, didn't envisage making the age-group squad cut, let alone assume the mantle of leadership, after breaking his thumb in August during a Ford National League encounter.
"The break I had was quite substantial so I had surgery where it took steel plates and screws to fix it up," the former Havelock North High School pupil said.
"My right thumb was in a cast so it was really a touch-and-go situation," said the Pretoria-born who grew up in Durban before emigrating to New Zealand in 2001 as a 9-year-old.
"It's been a rollercoaster ride with the surgery, recovery and selection so it's a great feeling and a huge privilege to be named captain."
However, those appointing him skipper, no doubt, would have taken into account Creffier had led the Auckland under-21 side to victory this year, the region first bragging rights in the competition for 14 years.
"It comes with a lot of responsibility and weight so my performance will hopefully be to the best of my ability."
The son of Katrien and Shaun Brown, a gas and oil health and safety officer who travels around the world, puts his selection down to discipline and hard work.
"People look up to you so you have to set a good example."
When most players, albeit not all, follow a leader, he believes, they build a constitution that is tough to beat on the hockey turf.
A promising tennis player, who refined his skills under the likes of Luke Donovan in the Bay, Creffier shifted to Palmerston North as a 15-year-old to attend a tennis academy for almost nine months.
As a fifth-former, though, he found traction with former Hawke's Bay Hockey Academy director Greg Nicol, a former South African hockey international who is the Black Sticks women's assistant coach.
"I fitted well in the academy and trained with Greg so I got to a point where I was playing more and more hockey tournaments," he said, relishing the switch from an individual sport to a collective existence.
"Greg was a big part of my coaching that has taken me to a higher level in my first high-performance experience."
He is also indebted to Bay-born Black Sticks assistant captain Shea McAleese, ex-Bay international Caryn Paewai, current Black Stick Nick Wilson, Kayla Sharland, Emily Naylor and former Auckland assistant coach Jason Butcher (now in Perth) for his prowess.
He confided in several trustworthy hockey-savvy acquaintances before deciding to move north to Auckland to continue shaping his career.
"It is a stronger region and I've been playing for Auckland now for two years,' said the former Hawke's Bay and Central age-group representative.
He coaches youngsters at schools as well as for the Auckland association these days.
"It's about a career now," he said, aiming to use the Junior Worlds this month as a stepping stone to graduating to the senior ranks.
"There's a lot of hard work happening and more down the track because I'll have to make an effort to make it possible."
His training includes three gym sessions for 1.5 hours and just as many turf sessions every week.
Creffier is in the engine room but he has no qualms about drifting to either flank or even sitting deep in a defensive role should the coaching stable demand that.
In his second day in the capital of India, Creffier was finding the temperature quite pleasant.
"We were in Perth for five days before we arrived here so it was hotter in Australia but over here it's a different kind of heat. It's sort of more muggy and thicker here."
It's adapting to the culture that is proving to be an effort for the Kiwi contingent.
"It's a country of extremes. It has scenery like no other in the world but then there's also poverty that you don't get to see.
"It humbles you a bit and brings you down to earth.
"We're coming to grip with it and it makes you realise how lucky you are to be living at home."
Creffier is confident New Zealand will make the top two in their pool to qualify for the playoffs.
He expects the European nations - Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium - and Australia to be hard acts although he's looking forward to playing South Africa before that.
The ultimate is to win but they prefer in the short term to focus on each game and expect a few dogfights.
"No games a gimme. It'll also be very tough playing India at home because they can take down any team," he said of the hosts, a force of the yesteryear who are rebuilding in a country where cricketers are accorded god-like status.
The Creffier family first settled in Frimley, hastings, before moving to Havelock North.
Mother Katrien lives in Auckland with youngest brother Elzivor, 14, while older brother Christo, 23, has graduated from Otago University and is now pursuing a degree in medicine at Auckland University.
Coach Edwards has named Jared Panchia, of Auckland, the Junior Black Sticks vice-captain.
