Luke Keary proves his decision to join Roosters was right with Clive Churchill Medal performance

AFTER falling out of favour with Russell Crowe at South Sydney, Luke Keary’s Clive Churchill Medal-winning grand final performance gave The Gladiator one final uppercut.

LUKE Keary was unwanted by Souths owner Russell Crowe. Now the kid from Ipswich has truly had the last laugh, giving The Gladiator one final uppercut.

Keary’s decision to join the Roosters was emphatically vindicated on Sunday night when he clinched the Clive Churchill Medal in his team’s 21-6 grand final defeat of the Storm.

Just two years ago, Keary’s career was at the crossroads after he famously clashed with Crowe, who had launched a stunning attack on the then Rabbitohs playmaker.

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Luke Keary took control of the Roosters. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

During a pre-season trip to Crowe’s NSW north-coast property in 2016, the Hollywood megastar lashed Keary, accusing him of not earning his money during Souths’ failed title defence in 2015.

Keary knew then he was a dead-man walking at Redfern.

Out of favour, he hit the eject button, moving to Souths’ archrivals the Roosters last year in a bid to recapture the form that saw him win his maiden premiership ring at the Rabbitohs in 2014.

On Sunday night, Keary produced the greatest performance of his career, taking the heat off injured halves partner Cooper Cronk to steer the Roosters to premiership glory.

On a night of defence, Keary’s vision stood out. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

As he sat in the sheds holding the NRL trophy, Keary was too joyous to be bitter about Crowe. But when asked why he left Souths, his words spoke volumes. At the Roosters, he feels accepted.

“It wasn’t hard to leave Souths at the time,” Keary said before offering an ironic laugh, suggesting he jumped before he was pushed.

“The Roosters have changed my life here for the better. It’s a small little club, but a great organisation.

“I said to someone straight after the game, I am so happy for everyone in this club, from the players and Nick Politis (Roosters chairman) to our female staff in the office.”

While Cronk was justifiably lauded for his courage in playing with a broken shoulder, it was Keary who engineered the Roosters’ success.

With Cronk playing the directing role of traffic cop, Keary ran the show. He darted left, then ghosted right. His long spiral pass for Daniel Tupou’s opening try in the eighth minute was sublime. He then delivered the bullet with a 69th-minute field goal.

It was a tribute to Keary’s maturity that he played with such dominance, because just an hour before kick-off he had no idea what role Cronk would play.

Roosters fans are certainly happy about his switch. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“Even in the warm-up, Cooper didn’t know if he would play,” Keary said.

“I was pretty focused, but when we were doing our run-throughs, he wasn’t with us.

“We started in (the sheds) and he still wasn’t with us. We still didn’t know if Cooper would play until he walked in the door and started kicking the footy.

“I had a word with him before the game. I still didn’t know what he could or couldn’t do. He said I can do a couple of kicks and couple of passes but I will just hang around the short side.

“I had to take more responsibility but I felt like the senior boys took a bit more of the burden.

“Cooper has taught me a lot about how to control a team and the temperament you need in games.”

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Originally published as Luke Keary proves his decision to join Roosters was right with Clive Churchill Medal performance