‘Go after the king’: Cooper Cronk’s ‘weird’ kick-off tactic to take out Nathan Cleary

Former Storm champion Cooper Cronk has outlined a brutal plan to test just how good Nathan Cleary’s shoulder really is.

Melbourne Storm champion Cooper Cronk has called for his former side to test Nathan Cleary’s shoulder from the kick-off to Sunday’s NRL Grand Final.

The Panthers are chasing an unprecedented fourth straight premiership with Cleary set to be the key after almost single-handedly delivering the 2023 title.

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But the champion halfback is coming into the match with huge question marks over his fitness after suffering a shoulder injury against the Storm in round 24.

There are fears Cleary’s shoulder is “hanging by a thread”, and his inclusion in the side could be a gamble.

Cleary came into the season with a shoulder injury, having dislocated it during the last pre-season before it flared up after the Storm’s Josh King tackled him in the sides’ last meeting.

Cleary sent a scare through his side late in the prelim however, clutching his shoulder late in the match before leaving the field early after he was put in cotton wool for the decider.

While Cleary has been maintaining his shoulder is good to go and he’s ready to face the minor premiers in the grand final, the eyes of the rugby league world will be fixed to the superstar on Sunday night.

With suggestions Cleary’s shoulder could potentially go at any time during the match, Cronk has suggested his former side test the troublesome joint straight off the bat.

“This is an odd one,” Cronk said on The Matty Johns Podcast.

“In terms of the kick-off to the contest, Nathan is the king of Penrith. If you’re going in to stop what they’re doing, you need to go after the king directly.

“Now this is a weird one — if I’m the Melbourne Storm, I’m actually going to kick it to Nathan, and I want him to take the first carry.”

Cronk was speaking to a video of the kick-off to the second half of the Panthers’ preliminary final against the Sharks with Cleary lined up to the left of the kick-off on the 40m line.

Cooper Cronk wants the Storm to test out Cleary's shoulder from the kick-off. Photo: Fox Sports

Cronk has come up with a left-field tactic to take out Nathan Cleary. Photo: Fox Sports

Cronk continued: “I would make a statement physically about picking him up, dragging him out, throwing him around. Land the ball on about 30m, a little sand wedge, and he has to get it. And then everyone take the handbrake off.”

Johns said the prospect was “interesting”.

“So almost take the first contact out of his hands?” Johns clarified.

Cronk replied: “Give away a penalty, if you want to rough him up, if you want to stay over the top of him, lay down or whatever — don’t give away 10 in the bin, I’m not saying break the law — but make a statement. Because he’s the spirit of that team.”

Cronk is no stranger to going into a grand final with a shoulder injury himself.

The halfback made NRL history in 2018 when he became the first player to win back-to-back titles with different clubs as he played the conductor in his side’s 21-6 win over the Storm.

While he didn’t do too much running or defending, he was instrumental as the puppetmaster.

It was revealed after full-time by Roosters co-captain Boyd Cordner that Cronk had played with a broken scapula.

“That will go down in history. That is a big performance from him,” Cordner said at the time.

“He was touch and go right up until game time. We had to come up with a game plan to protect him as much as possible, and we executed that.”

This led to Cleary's injury. Photo: Fox Sports

Should the Storm target Cleary’s troublesome shoulder? Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

And Cleary is no stranger of playing through the pain, having taken the Panthers to victory in 2023 despite having suffered a reported MCL injury to his knee — which made his left foot step to score the matchwinning try all the more impressive.

Cleary has been declared a certain starter for the Panthers and laughed off any issues with the shoulder.

The Storm have also claimed they won’t be targeting Cleary, having been burned before in a grand final — by Cronk.

“No, not at all. I think, you know, we don’t need to focus on one player and Nathan and his shoulder,” Storm captain Harry Grant said on Monday.

“I think he’s shown in recent weeks, in recent years, the class player he is and how he performs, whether he’s under a bit of an injury cloud, or in these big games.

“He’s shown that the last few weeks, his performances, and we won’t expect anything different, so we’re not going out to target him or handle him any different to we normally would.”