![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779017096_680_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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Words that came to Cooper Cronk in the back of a dimly lit room during a video review session, as the champion halfback was forced to relive the \u201cworst feeling after a game that I\u2019ve ever played\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was the pre-season following the 2016 grand final, which the Storm lost to the Sharks 14-12. Cronk had only just got over that game. He had only just forgotten that feeling. <\/p>\n
You know, the one of deep regret. The obsessing over every little moment. Missed opportunities that slipped by.<\/p>\n
But when he arrived back at training in January, the first thing Craig Bellamy made the team do was watch those 80 minutes. Some they would want back. A lot for Cronk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just kept saying to myself that all I had to do was be more selfless,\u201d the champion halfback recently told Mark Bouris on his \u2018Straight Talk\u2019 podcast<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think we might have been a chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n Even 13 years into his career, Cronk was still learning \u2014 and this was a lesson he didn\u2019t want to forget. So, he reached for that piece of paper and a pen.<\/p>\n If I ever get another chance at this, I\u2019m not going to make the same mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lesson was don\u2019t be the hero,\u201d Cronk added.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t try and be the main man. If there is an opportunity for someone else to be that guy that wins it, do whatever it takes to help that person and the team win.\u201d <\/p>\n So, Cronk gave that piece of paper to then assistant coach Adam O\u2019Brien and told him to hold onto it until the \u201cright time\u201d. That time came after a preliminary final win over Brisbane the following year.<\/p>\n As it turned out, that wouldn\u2019t be Cronk\u2019s only other chance to right the wrongs of 2016. <\/p>\n In fact, that lesson \u2014 to not feel like he had to be the main man \u2014 only took on greater meaning when he returned to Accor Stadium once more, and this time at the Sydney Roosters.<\/p>\n Cronk doesn\u2019t like talking about that grand final week much. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty intense, pretty traumatic basically every day leading into it,\u201d he told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n And as for the game itself, it was the \u201cmost scared\u201d he had been in his entire career.<\/p>\n \u201cI was terrified,\u201d Cronk said. <\/p>\n Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n Cooper Cronk of the Roosters during the 2018 NRL Grand Final between the Sydney Roosters and the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Sunday, September 30, 2018. (AAP Image\/Dean Lewins)Source: AAP<\/p>\n MOMENT THE MIND GAMES BEGAN<\/p>\n It was described at the time<\/a> as the type of injury you would usually see in car crash victims.<\/p>\n As soon as Cronk left the field after the preliminary final win over South Sydney he was set for scans. <\/p>\n The media was told it was a rotator cuff injury. In reality, the scans showed a full break of Cronk\u2019s scapula \u2014 all the way through the bone.<\/p>\n The mind games had begun. <\/p>\n Cronk recalls a group of around 30 players and members of staff were told the full extent of his injury during a team meeting at recovery the next day. A code of silence was agreed to.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was planned that we wouldn\u2019t tell anyone outside of the people in that meeting what was happening,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n Which was easier said than done. He was shuffled in and out of back doors at the Roosters facility. Then later in the week, when he did front media and the cameras, Cronk was in a sling and admitted he was a \u201clong shot\u201d to play.<\/p>\n Which wasn\u2019t a lie. Up until a \u201cHail Mary\u201d moment later in the week, it looked as if Cronk had exhausted all possible options and had little hope of finding a solution. <\/p>\n But people talk. It\u2019s human nature. And yet, not one word got out. How?<\/p>\n Cooper Cronk leaves his Mosman home .Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a respect thing,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf someone that you respect asks you to do something then you do it and that\u2019s what good teams do. <\/p>\n \u201c… Trent Robinson absolutely admires his players, his players absolutely respect him and when you\u2019ve got that you can go about things in a way that probably from the outside looking in seemed impossible but it was pretty much straightforward for the whole week to be fair. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone ever shirked their responsibility at all.\u201d <\/p>\n At the time of that first meeting, Cronk had a \u201cnext to zero chance of playing\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of us thought he was going to play,\u201d Roosters halves partner Luke Keary told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n Cronk had told them the day before that he was a chance, but Keary said the playing group had largely accepted at that point that it wasn\u2019t going to happen.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich was kind of a good thing,\u201d he added, \u201cbecause we just dealt with it earlier in the week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went, \u2018OK Coops won\u2019t be there. We know it\u2019s going to be tough now and we\u2019ll just have to deal with it\u2019 and even when he said he was playing it didn\u2019t really affect anyone because we knew he wasn\u2019t going to be good.\u201d<\/p>\n But that isn\u2019t to say there weren\u2019t doubts. In fact, Keary sensed it when the players were first told about the severity of Cronk\u2019s injury. <\/p>\n What followed was one of the most \u201cpowerful\u201d moments of grand final week.<\/p>\n Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n Cooper Cronk with his arm in a sling at a media opportunity at the SCG, ahead of the 2018 NRL Grand Final. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n THE \u2018POWERFUL\u2019 MOMENT KEARY WON THE GF <\/p>\n Keary was 26 years old at the time and only in his second season at the Roosters.<\/p>\n In other words, while he was more than established at the NRL level having won a premiership with South Sydney, he wasn\u2019t the figure that Cronk was at that point in his career.<\/p>\n And yet, when a hush fell over the group, it was Keary who stood up and delivered what teammate Jared Waerea-Hargreaves described as a \u201cpretty powerful\u201d moment.<\/p>\n The Roosters enforcer can\u2019t remember the exact words, but it was along the lines of \u201cstuff this, we\u2019re going to be good\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cCronk or no Cronk\u201d, Keary told his teammates, \u201cwe\u2019re going to win\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether we were on the training paddock, off the training paddock or on the field, we looked to Coops for a bit of guidance,\u201d Waerea-Hargreaves told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cYou start doubting yourself when you lose your main conductor, your halfback and the guy that steers the ship. When there\u2019s a guy that\u2019s just as important, who stands up and goes \u2018stuff this, we\u2019re going to be good\u2019 \u2013 it means he\u2019s taking that responsibility that we just lost.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a huge moment and it definitely built that confidence that we needed at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Cronk, meanwhile, went as far as to say Keary won the grand final and Clive Churchill medal that Sunday morning after the preliminary final with the way he spoke.<\/p>\n \u201cHe felt there was a sense of urgency, maybe a little bit of doubt creeping in, but he knew that we had played really well for the majority of that year,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were in good form and we were going to play a really, really good team on the other side of the field and if you hesitate for one second, if you doubt yourself for one second \u2014 you\u2019ll get caught out on grand final day. <\/p>\n \u201cSo I think Luke set up that performance on Sunday morning after the prelim final. He set the tone as the leader that week, trained the way that he spoke and then delivered his best performance of his career arguably.\u201d<\/p>\n Keary led from the front. (Photo by Mark Kolbe\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n THE $200,000 \u2018HAIL MARY\u2019 THAT SAVED THE DAY<\/p>\n Now, of course, as it turned out Cronk would end up playing later that week. <\/p>\n But his teammates didn\u2019t know that at the time. Neither did Cronk. <\/p>\n By Thursday\u2019s training session he had tried everything \u2014 every type of medicine, every type of recovery \u2014 and nothing was working. <\/p>\n \u201cWe scoured the net, we rang experts here and overseas and at the same time trying to keep it all quiet,\u201d Dr Ameer Ibrahim told Fox Sports News in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cWe looked at hyperbaric chambers, we looked at splints, we looked at different slings, strapping techniques to see if it would work; lasers, bone stimulators, whatever we could get our hands on. The sports science department was searching the internet far and wide and it was just a question of trying to get the pain down and improve function.\u201d<\/p>\n Cronk then met with Roosters coach Trent Robinson on Thursday and told him at best he could be named on the bench and, if they got out to enough of a lead, manage the team to victory in the last 15 minutes or so. <\/p>\n As Cronk was emotionally coming to terms with the fact he may not play in Sunday\u2019s grand final, Roosters head physiotherapist Steph Brennan \u2014 who had been working around the clock on the halfback \u2014 had one more idea. <\/p>\n He had heard of a radiologist in Castle Hill by the name of Craig Harris. At that point, Cronk was over it. He was over the tests. Over the pain-killing injections. Over the false hope.<\/p>\n But Brennan convinced him to give it one last try. <\/p>\n \u201cHe (Harris) has a big $200,000 ultrasound machine,\u201d Ibrahim told News Corp<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it worked we would\u2019ve had to transport the machine with a big truck to ANZ Stadium. He rang the ultrasound company and they gave him some demo portable ones to use. He did both ultrasounds on Cooper and found the portable one was better. He injected (the pain medicine) along the fracture line to do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n Cronk after tackling Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n At that point, Cronk had not been able to lift his arm for a week. <\/p>\n The pain medicine was injected by Harris between the crack in his scapula in three different spots, and then after waiting 15 minutes Cronk was suddenly able to lift his arm up.<\/p>\n Then he was able to mimic a passing motion, and later a tackling motion. <\/p>\n \u201cUltimately that\u2019s what got us to the kick-off was that the medical staff that week never gave up hope,\u201d Cronk told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cThey worked through every little bit of sneaky opportunity or hope that we had and what landed on our doorstep was basically a Hail Mary come Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n The pain relief had worn off by the time Cronk got back to Moore Park, so it was decided if it was going to work he would need an injection of around 20 millimetres before the game and then another 10 at halftime. <\/p>\n But first he wanted the approval of the playing group.<\/p>\n So, he called Robinson and said he wouldn\u2019t be able to make the decision on his own. The senior players were brought into a room, Cronk told them exactly where he was at \u2014 that he was \u201cat 30 or 40 per cent\u201d and that while the pain medication may work for the first half there were no guarantees beyond then. <\/p>\n \u201cThe rest of the senior players and the coaching staff to a man stood up and said they wanted me to play at that capacity,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the way the week built those players delivered on every word they said.\u201d<\/p>\n Although even if Cronk now knew that he was playing, that didn\u2019t mean his ordeal was over. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was \u201cterrified\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t far from tears the majority of the day,\u201d Cronk admitted on Bouris\u2019 podcast.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t the only one freaking out.<\/p>\n Roosters Cooper Cronk enters the rooms with Dylan Napa after victory in the 2018 NRL Grand Final. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n \u2018PACKING IT IN\u2019: KEARY\u2019S GAMEDAY NIGHT TERROR<\/p>\n Keary had never had a night terror \u2014 until grand final day in 2018.<\/p>\n The team used to always nap at lunchtime before a game and all the Roosters five-eighth remembers that day is waking up sweating and screaming in his Olympic Park hotel room.<\/p>\n \u201cI woke up at four or five o\u2019clock, a few hours before the game and I was sweating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a night terror… he (Cronk) probably thought I was just packing it in on the day of the game. It had never happened to me before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe roomed together during my time at the Roosters and we went into camp at different stages that week and I think he had some form of fear creep in during the day in the lead-up to the game,\u201d added Cronk. <\/p>\n \u201cNo matter if you\u2019re a kid on debut or an experienced, senior player, grand final day is daunting, it\u2019s scary and it\u2019s intimidating. You have self-doubt but you\u2019ve got to really put that to one side and deliver your best performance of the year if you want to be successful. <\/p>\n \u201cSo he had those doubts, he worked through it and history will show he played the game of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n Roosters co-captain Boyd Cordner and Luke Keary. (AAP Image\/Dean Lewins)Source: AAP<\/p>\n Cronk, on the other hand, didn\u2019t make much of his own performance. He knows that game will go down in history, with Robinson declaring in his post-game press conference that \u201cit is legend status\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a guy as mentally strong as Cooper Cronk,\u201d the Roosters coach added.<\/p>\n But as Cronk himself will tell you, he \u201cprobably played the worst game of my career\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 16 other players played the best game of their career and that\u2019s what finals are about,\u201d Cronk added.<\/p>\n Although walking into Accor Stadium that night, as nervous as Cronk may have been, it was the sight of all the Storm players watching him from outside their dressing room as he arrived that gave him some comfort.<\/p>\n In that moment, Cronk thought that his injury could actually work in the Roosters\u2019 favour. Maybe it was the distraction they needed. The rare crack in an otherwise impenetrable Melbourne Storm armour.<\/p>\n In contrast, Keary said the Roosters entered that grand final with a clear game plan.<\/p>\n That was despite not even knowing for sure if Cronk was going to play until 20 minutes before kick-off. The Roosters halfback had to go get needled up and said it was a \u201c50-50\u201d shot, so he told his teammates to warm up and if the treatment worked he\u2019d join them for the final 10 minutes. <\/p>\n Once the whistle was blown and the game got underway, Cronk was largely parked on short sides as a decoy of sorts while both he and James Tedesco worked both sides of the field. Cronk, meanwhile, would be their voice. <\/p>\n Not that he wasn\u2019t even when healthy. \u201cHe was always loud,\u201d as Keary put it.<\/p>\n But this was different. \u201cEven the field goal at the end, he told me to kick it,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n The rest is history, or the stuff of legends as Robinson would put it.<\/p>\n Keary took on a big role. (AAP Image\/Dean Lewins)Source: AAP<\/p>\n THE EMOTIONAL ROBBO SPEECH THAT HAD EVERYONE IN TEARS <\/p>\n Cronk said it was \u201cprobably the most emotional I\u2019ve been after a game\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of different emotions at different stages,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cI had friends and mentors in that opposition team that I still care about today. I had the new friendship group. I had Nick Politis and the board. <\/p>\n \u201cTrent took a real leap of faith in bringing me to the club and allowed me to have my football and family together in the one city for the only time in my career. I don\u2019t know how it happened, I don\u2019t know how I got through it.\u201d<\/p>\n Roosters coach Trent Robinson with Cooper Cronk after 2018 NRL grand Final.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n But he did and by the end of it, everyone was in tears. Cronk. His teammates. Robinson. Politis. <\/p>\n