Cooper Cronk’s Roosters debut extra special considering ‘gash’ in foot caused by stingray
COOPER Cronk’s foot ballooned so much after a freakish encounter with a stingray, Roosters co-captain Boyd Cordner feared the star halfback would be forced to delay his club debut.
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COOPER Cronk’s foot ballooned so much after a freakish encounter with a stingray, Sydney Roosters co-captain Boyd Cordner feared the star halfback would be forced to delay his club debut.
Despite coach Trent Robinson’s best efforts to play down Cronk’s beach bite, Cordner revealed the halfback could barely walk late last week, and still had his foot patched up.
The Roosters will be desperate to forget about their opening-round shock defeat against the Wests Tigers, and are likely to be boosted by the return of Cronk’s halves partner Luke Keary.
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Cronk tried his best against the Tigers, which was even more remarkable given the pain he experienced from being attacked in the shallow water by what was believed to be a stingray.
“He came in and I saw him with ice on his foot, it was all swollen, it was bandaged up and he couldn’t walk,’’ Cordner said.
“It was pretty crazy. He couldn’t train. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to play because it was pretty sore.
“It’s a fair gash. He’s still got Band-Aids on it. It’s pretty bizarre.
“But he’s a competitor. He always goes out and gives 110 per cent. It was a good start by him.’’
Cronk tried his heart out in a disappointing Roosters side that have already moved on from the Tigers loss and focused on Friday’s clash against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.
The pending return of Keary will make life easier for Cronk with the five-eighth given an extra week to deal with a concussion he suffered during a training mishap, which also left him with a broken jaw.
“That’s the plan, he’s been going well at training and was close to playing in round one,’’ Cordner said of Keary.
“He’s one of our best players, we missed him. Hopefully we can get him back this week.’’
Latrell Mitchell, one of three players who extended his deal until the end of 2020 — Nat Butcher and Joseph Manu also re-signed — was excited about Keary, while Cronk had shaken off some opening-round jitters and would be better with the big occasion out of the way.
“He (Keary) has got that X factor, we know what sort of player he is, he’s so quick off the mark. I’m keen for him to come back,’’ Mitchell said.
“(Cronk) is one of the best players in the world.
“To have a player like that who knows the structure and knows what he wants to do in the game, to get that first round out of way, I think he was a bit nervous at the time, you could see it, but it’s ‘Cooper Cronk’, he’ll fix it up and help the boys out as well.
“That’s what he’s here for. I’m really keen to see where we can go.’’
Cordner came off the bench on Saturday, but said Robinson was mindful he had not trialled, and it was likely to be a ‘’one off’’.