Cronk pays ultimate compliment to rival

today in the 21-man grand final squad.

Slater said yesterday the result on Sunday would have no bearing on his future.

“It’s more about whether I feel like I can do it [again]. If I thought it wasn’t going to be a waste I’d probably go around next year, but I feel like I’m getting everything out of myself,” the off-contract fullback said.

“I really enjoy playing rugby league, that’s what it comes down to and that’s why the decision hasn’t been made to call it quits, I just need to make sure that I’m 100 per cent confident that I can contribute next year in the way that I’m doing it now.”

Slater has played 20 games this season, and leads Storm in try assists (16) and offloads (39). He moved to outright third in tries (10) — behind Suliasi Vunivalu (23) and Josh Addo-Carr (21) — with a double against Brisbane. TEST half-back Cooper Cronk says grand final opponent Michael Morgan has surpassed him on current form.

While Cronk is assured of wearing the Australian No.7 jumper at the World Cup, there is an argument to be made that Morgan has established himself as the form player of the finals series.

After North Queensland scraped into eighth spot, he has fired them to an unlikely grand final berth, which has shades of Jarryd Hayne rocketing Parramatta to the 2009 grand final.

Glad to have played some role in Morgan’s rise, Melbourne half-back Cronk was comfortable to admit the Cowboys playmaker had taken his mantle as the game’s best No.7.

“He’s probably ahead of me at the moment,” he said yesterday. “He’s playing elite, there’s no doubt about it.

“His fingerprints and influ- ence on the game, along with a lot of other players, has driven North Queensland to the position they’re in. So simple answer — he probably is [the best half-back in the NRL].”

Since co-captain Johnathan Thurston’s season-ending shoulder injury, Morgan has stepped into the Cowboys’ primary playmaking role.

Cronk also had a role in his making as a playmaker after pulling him aside during Australian camp during the year.

Morgan described the heart-to-heart as a light bulb moment and changed the way he thought about the game.

“I’d do it all over again,” Cronk said.