Rooster crows as D-Day arrives for Cronk

COOPER Cronk will walk into Roosters HQ this morning and say what a cracking day it is. Always does. Every day. But how else do you reckon a footballer with such limited ability has made himself worth $1 million?

Indeed, if Cronk is to play in the 2018 NRL grand final to- morrow, it will have as much to do with healing and hyperbaric chambers as his incredible — and at times wacky — ability to will things into being.

It’s why nobody at Roosters HQ can ever recall him complaining of a bad day.

Which is why he will enter the club’s Moore Park headquarters this morning and, with kit bag by his side, suit up for the most hyped captain’s run in living memory.

Apart from running with the team on Allianz Stadium — the Roosters have brushed a Homebush practice to instead train behind locked gates — Cronk will also push his shoulder through a series of tests which could include tackling all 113 kilograms of Roosters prop Dylan Napa. And as for how good Cronk’s left rotator cuff will go? Nobody knows. Unlikely even him.

Which still, and wonderfully, hasn’t stopped almost everyone from having a crack at predicting what will happen to the fellow who was spotted this week at a Darlinghurst cryotherapy joint. Cronk is in. Cronk is out. Cronk is longer odds than cheap grand final day beers. All of which matters nought to the Roosters No.7, who back in April told us of pressure: “You can’t feel pressure. Can’t see or touch it, either. So is it even real?”

Which is why he’ll walk into Allianz Stadium some time this morning and, with all of League Land holding its breath, and say what a great day it is.