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I agree with all of the above. Glasby is off contract 2021 also. I'd be looking to move him on asap. Personally I havent not seen any value at all in his signing. Maybe off field leadership ? valuable experience yes but certainly his on field performances this year leave a lot to be desired. He's a bench player at best . Vanilla in the extreme.
and Cronk has just been given life membership at the Roosters after 2 Premiership winning seasons.
lol
sometimes people just get lucky. Bellamy not unlike Bennett did heads up an important franchize with vast off field resources, but cheated the cap and kept the nucleus of a side with champions of their era in it. If not for that it would be a very very different story.
Hahaha....
'He's the G.O.A.T': Roosters teammates explain why Cooper Cronk deserves Immortal nod
wow. The immortal thing must really generate some clicks. Unfortunately the concept is heavily politicized.....sure does look good to have an "immortal " on the books I suppose. The concept will be dead and buried within 20 years. Every man and his seeing eye dog will be an " immortal" or an "immortal in waiting" by that stage. Great shame because the concept is a good one......but just like most things NRL is just poorly thought out.
By Melanie Dinjaski - 3 days ago
Cooper Cronk explains how it feels to finish his career with another grand final win.
After 16 years playing in the NRL, Cooper Cronk was given a dream end to his storied rugby league career, with a grand final victory in Roosters colours.
Though it's only been his second year in the Tri Colours, he's made the most of his final years in the game, with historic back-to-back Premierships. And so, the conversation moves to the legacy Cronk leaves behind.
There are 13 rugby league legends that are Immortals, including Clive Churchill, John Raper, Reg Gasnier, Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson, Andrew Johns, Dally Messenger, Frank Burge, Dave Brown, Norm Provan, and Mal Meninga. And in five years Cronk will be able to be considered to join that exclusive club.
The list of achievements are pretty remarkable - 375 NRL games, two Dally M Medals (2013, 2016), one Clive Churchill Medal (2012), a six-time Premiership winner at two clubs (two titles stripped with the Storm), nine grand finals played, a rugby league World Golden Boot (2016) and a two-time World Club Challenge winner.
In representative footy, Cronk has an incredible record too, with 38 Tests for the Kangaroos, and 22 State of Origin games for Queensland as a key part of the Maroons' most successful team in the state vs state blockbuster's history.
Roosters presented with the trophy (Getty)
In the Roosters locker room at ANZ Stadium after their thrilling 14-8 win over the Raiders, Cronk's teammates also had glowing reviews about the man as well as the player.
His teammate Jared Waerea-Hargeaves was adamant an Immortal nod was coming.
"He's honestly the G.O.A.T," he told Wide World of Sports.
"Six premierships, nine grand finals, and there's a reason why - he works bloody hard every day and we see that. He's a hell of a professional athlete and I'm so grateful for everything that he's done for our organisation.
"He's the greatest man I've ever played with. The influence he's had on our club and the influence he's had on me as a man, both on and off the field, is amazing. I'm so thankful."
Cooper Cronk celebrates winning the 2019 NRL grand final with the Sydney Roosters (Getty)
Another Roosters teammate Mitch Aubusson said for Cronk's accomplishments in Sydney alone he's shown he's deserving of the highest rugby league honour.
"What a leader, what a player, and surely he'll have to be in that Immortal discussion after what he's done the last few years, the way he's finished his career," Aubusson said.
"He took a risk to come to the Roosters after probably feeling so at home at Melbourne for so many years. What a reward for him, two premierships in two years.
"He's a great family man and we can learn a lot from him. When he was in Melbourne I knew that he was a good fella and played the game fairly and tough and that was really magnified when he came to us.
"His leadership and his toughness was a big thing I realised. I mean, look at last year's grand final, he played the game with a cracked scapula."
Aubusson was also impressed with the way in which Cronk was able to win over his new teammates when he came up from the Storm, having arrived to the club amidst the headline-grabbing departure of long-time beloved Rooster, Mitchell Pearce.
"That was a really tough time for everybody. Pearcey was a really good friend of mine and we grew up playing together. The club and Pearce made a call and I was really disappointed it ended that way," Aubusson said.
"But Cronk has really repaid the club in spades. He worked hard from day one. He's probably the hardest working guy in the last two years and he deserves everything he gets."
For winger Daniel Tupou, who delivered the pass to James Tedesco to race away and score Sydney's game-winning try in the final 10 minutes in the 2019 grand final, the best memory he has of Cronk involved a simple cup of coffee.
"We've got a couple of stories. Probably his first time buying me coffee is my favourite. It was so awkward, but we got on from there," Tupou said.
"I was into piccolos but he got me onto the long blacks.
"But he always put the team first before himself. He's just a genuine bloke and a legend."
Roosters halfback and Storm great Cooper Cronk won the NRL grand final in his last game before retirement.
Tupou couldn't say whether the Roosters would have had the same success they've experienced the past two seasons without Cronk, however his impact in the team has been immense. Especially with the "big shoes" he had to fill when Pearce left.
"100 percent he should be an Immortal," Tupou said.
"Because he's a genuine bloke and with all the stuff he's done for the game, he deserves it.
"It was an honour to be taught by him."
Tedesco arrived at the same time as Cronk to the club, but he too described the halfback's influence, with and without a footy in hand at the Roosters, as "massive".
"He's made everyone here a better player. He's a true gentleman, a professional and everyone has learned so much from him, so we can't thank him enough," Tedesco said.
"He's a leader. In tough situations he ices those moments, and he's done that his whole career.
"But as a person I think that's the most important thing. Off the field, he's just a great bloke and we all love him. You can never say a bad word about him. I have a lot of love for him as a footballer but also as a person. "
Having played against Cronk for years in the NRL and in Origin, Tedesco, much like Roosters co-captain Jake Friend, were both stunned at how easy it was to accept the veteran playmaker into the fold. In such a short amount of time he was able to win over the playing group, and through his actions galvanize the team to reach (and win) back-to-back grand finals.
"We were enemies against the Storm but whenever I spent time with Cooper he was always a gentleman and that's exactly what we got when he came to the Roosters," Friend said.
"He trains his backside off. He leads the boys around the paddock. Off the field he's a great family man and very professional. He brings everyone up to his level and I think that's why we've been so successful."
Friend said Cronk's potential to become an Immortal should not be in question as the 35-year-old hangs up the boots for good after that memorable grand final win.
"I think he was [an Immortal] even before this. I don't know how many records the bloke broke tonight but he's pretty special," the Roosters hooker said.
"What he's done at this club in two years... he's a pretty special dude. He's got a head for a coach, I don't know if he'd go into it, but he's a smart footy guy."
As for Cronk himself, he had a favourite footy slang response to express his humble thoughts on whether he is deserving of Immortal status.
"It is what it is," he told Wide World of Sports.
"I'm not disrespecting the awards that get thrown out in rugby league. I'm a rugby league tragic and respect the history of it but the only accolade that's really important to me is that I'm a good husband and a good father."
Love every word that comes out of his mouth. Smart man. Smart player.
hard to argue. Cronk's definitely a leader and total pro. Speaks well and is a mature figure in the game. We do lack these qualities at the Knights, with no over 150-200 gamers other than Pearce and Guerra it's an area the Knights need to work on no doubt.
You can strip a premiership or a trophy, you can't erase the fact the man turned up on grand final day and won a match of football. I chose my words as I saw appropriate. Grand Finals happened those days, and Cronk was in the team that won on the day. I'm not attributing any honor or reward to it, it's just a fact of history. It happened, I watched it.
Did Cronk show up, play in and win games of football on those days? Regardless of cheating, the events happened. He has been involved in 9 grand finals, won 6 - 2 of those while his team was cheating the salary cap and thus had all reward for those victories stripped. If you look in the history books, you will still find that the Storm won games of football on those days.
