Ironman Cooper Cronk Set to Miss 2018 NRL Grand Final

September 26, 2018

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Sydney Roosters half-back Cooper Cronk missed 18 games in 13 seasons with the Melbourne Storm, won four grand finals and became one of the best half-backs of his generation. Following the 2017 season, he announced he would leave Melbourne and move to Sydney for family reasons and signed a two-year contract with Storm’s main rival. Everything this season was leading up to this moment – the moment when he was supposed to take on his old team on the grandest of rugby stages.

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As destiny would only have it, the ironman suffered a serious shoulder injury, damaging his rotator cuff. Even though he was seen wearing a cast, Cronk wouldn’t rule out playing in Sunday’s final.

“It’s going to be a different week physically. But I tell you what, if I’m there on Sunday, no matter what’s happened between now and then, there’s no excuses come Sunday night.”

Emotional week for Cronk

Cronk is one of the most durable players in the competition and has never missed a playoff match in his career. He made 32 playoff appearances in his time at Melbourne which included a stunning seven grand finals. He played 323 games for the club and missed only 18 (five of those were when he broke his arm in 2014). Cronk is the ultimate fighter, so there’s no doubt he’ll do everything possible to be on the field come Sunday night, where his former club awaits.

“I’ve been trying to sidestep that question for the last 30 weeks. I’ve always said, ‘Let’s just talk in hypotheticals and deal with it when we cross that bridge’,”

“And the bridge is here, isn’t it?”

The relationship with some of his former Melbourne teammates has cooled off since his departure. They won’t take it easy on him if Cronk does feature.

“There’s so many storylines, we could sit here and talk for an hour and a half about the subplots to everything that’s going on.

“It comes down to the game and the execution of the game.”