Even injured, star halfback Cooper Cronk still leads the way for the Roosters
BUNG shoulder, one leg, doesn’t matter - the Sydney Roosters know Cooper Cronk still has plenty to offer on grand final day
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BE it with a bung shoulder or on one leg, the Sydney Roosters still want Cooper Cronk on the field.
When Cronk pulls on the boots his impact goes beyond his touches of the ball. It’s greater than the sum of the kicks, passes and runs.
His organisation and talk, the direction he provides, they go beyond the stat sheet and are as much a part of what he brings to the table as his right foot step or his kicking game.
It’s why, even if he’s in a diminished state, so long as he’s on the field for the Roosters in Sunday’s grand final he can play a major role in leading them to victory over Melbourne.
That’s just what happened in last weekend’s preliminary final, as Cronk bravely battled on despite being unable to lift his left arm after a shot from Rabbitohs halfback Adam Reynolds on halftime.
Cronk couldn’t kick and could barely pass, but he still did his job.
“You’d want him on the field if he had one leg,” Roosters forward Victor Radley told The Daily Telegraph.
“For him to stay on the field is bloody courageous. It gives everyone a lift.
“You see him out there, he couldn’t lift his arm out there.
“When you look at him, still on the field, making tackles, you think to yourself if you’re tired ‘he’s a lot worse off than me and he’s still charging through’.
“It definitely brings a lot, with his talk and things like that.”
Cronk has been given until the last moment to prove his fitness for the grand final showdown against his former club.
In a shock result, the Roosters named veteran utility forward Mitchell Aubusson at halfback on Tuesday with Cronk and expected replacement Sean O’Sullivan named on an extended bench.
It’s expected the true halfback for the decider won’t be known until the final teams are named an hour before kick-off.
Skipper Boyd Cordner believes Cronk’s ability to dictate terms while under duress is a mark of his quality and intelligence as a player.
“It shows his experience, his class,” Cordner said.
“Having Cooper out there not at 100 per cent, he showed how much he can have on a game still. It’s unreal.”
Regardless of his fitness, if Cronk takes the field on Sunday he’ll give the Roosters a major psychological boost at the very least.
The 34-year old gives the Tricolours an air of confidence and control, even if he’s hampered.
“He always turns up in the big moments. That’s why everyone loves to be Cooper – when kids are kicking balls around back home they call themselves Cooper Cronk,” said prop forward Sio Siua Taukeiaho.
“Just having him in the side, the way he talks, the way he goes about his game, the way he organises us players. It gets us pumped.”
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