For Context:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ey-after-2017-nrl-season-20170404-gvd3i0.html
Storm star Cooper Cronk will seek to join a Sydney club after deciding to leave Melbourne at the end of the NRL season in order to live with his fiancee, Fox Sports TV presenter Tara Rushton.
The 33-year-old, a Queensland and Australian representative who's played 306 games for the Storm in 14 seasons, is contracted to the club until the end of the 2018 season.
Cronk named coach Craig Bellamy, and teammates Cameron Smith and Billy Slater as the club's "real big three" in an emotional address to the press on Tuesday morning.
"To Tara (Rushton) and my family, thank you for your patience. Obviously if it was a football decision, I'd be staying here," he said.
"There's a few things in life that are more important than footy, and that's pretty much the reason."
He added he doesn't know what is coming next, but made the decision in "the best interests of the football club".
"What I do next year is up in the air ... I've been wrestling with the decision of playing on or not playing on," he added.
Asked about breaking up 'the big three', he spoke fondly of Slater and Smith: "while Cameron and Billy are playing here, the club is in great hands. To even think there will be a gap when I leave, I don't buy into that at all" he said.
Storm coach Bellamy offered his support to the star, saying: "With Tara in Sydney, it makes it really hard for him. I can see where he is coming from."
He added that he was grateful for the advanced notice: "It gives us time to plan for next year."
"He is going to be a very hard guy to replace ... we've got a year to go yet. It had to come to an end at some stage, but when it does, it still ain't easy," Bellamy reflected.
"Melbourne Storm has been everything to me since moving down here from Brisbane as a kid back in 2003," Cronk said in a statement released on the Storm website.
"The club has helped me grow into the person I am today and I will be forever grateful to Craig, the coaches, my teammates and everyone associated with this great club for making it such a special place to be a part of. I will always be a Melbourne Storm person."
"To our incredible members and fans, we have shared so many special moments together over the years and I promise you I will be doing everything I can to make 2017 a season we will never forget."
Storm CEO Dave Donaghy said that while it was disappointing Cronk would no longer play for Storm, the mercurial halfback will forever remain a club legend.
"What Cooper has achieved here in Melbourne will be remembered by this club and this city forever," Donaghy said.
"We would have loved nothing more than to see Cooper remain here with us but we understand there are things in life that are more important than football."
"He has given everything to Melbourne Storm over the last 15 years and we look forward to seeing Cooper continue to do so for the remainder of this season and hopefully finish his career with us on a memorable high.
