Beaten, but Billy’s still our champion
Roosters roll to grand final win behind inspirational Cronk
BILLY Slater’s fairytale didn’t have a happy ending last night, but the Far North hero showed his class as the curtain came down on his glittering career. Slater’s 319th NRL game finished in heartbreak as Sydney Roosters won the NRL grand final 21-6 at ANZ Stadium. But the Innisfail star, cheered on by parents Ron and Judy Slater (above) at the Garradunga Hotel, immediately reflected on what the sport had given him. “Rugby League has taught me a lot of things – selflessness, respect, and I appreciate everything that everyone has done for me,” Slater said.
A BATTERED Cooper Cronk last night produced the ultimate braveheart act to break retiring Billy Slater’s heart and inspire the Roosters’ 21-6 mauling of Melbourne in the NRL grand final.
Before 82,688 fans at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, Cronk defied the greatest of odds, the halfback overcoming a fractured shoulder to torment his former side and deliver the Bondi club’s 14th premiership.
For most of the week, Cronk looked gone. His broken scapula was stuffed. Even Johnathan Thurston and Andrew Johns doubted he could play. But Cronk pledged to back himself.
Wearing jumper No.23, Cronk resembled a wounded, onearmed bandit as he imposed his will, if not skill, on a Roosters team that bolted to an 18-0 halftime lead and broke the Storm with power, pace and energy.
Josh Addo-Carr gave the Storm hope when he scored a 63rd-minute runaway try for 18-6, but when five-eighth Luke Keary landed a field-goal 11 minutes from time, Cronk had his Cinderella moment.
It was a masterful, energetic, clinical display by the Roosters. Cronk’s halves partner Keary, back-rower Boyd Cordner and centre Latrell Mitchell were outstanding, terrorising the errorriddled Storm to clinch the Roosters’ second premiership in five years. Underlining Melbourne’s horror night, fiveeighth Cameron Munster was sinbinned twice in a disastrous display. The Cronk narrative was as magical as it was multifaceted.
Roosters supremo Nick Politis poached Cronk from the Storm this season to deliver another Bondi title. In just one season, the purchase of Cronk – who steered Melbourne to seven grand finals – has been emphatically vindicated.
In the process, the Sydney glamour club denied Melbourne’s historic quest for back-to-back titles in the 20-year NRL era, sending Storm champion Slater into retirement a shattered man.
When Cronk’s name was announced over the PA system, the pro-Roosters crowd shook the Homebush foundations.
But from the opening minutes, it was clear Cronk was not out there to produce magic. His battered shoulder hanging as limp as week-old lettuce. The Roosters didn’t have 13 players on the park last night. They had 12 heroes and one quasi-coach in Cronk, who cleverly stayed out of the crossfire, barking, pointing, plotting and cajoling.
The Storm’s first half was one of their most uncharacteristic performances of the season. They simply missed the jump. Pressured by the energy of the NRL’s best defensive side, the Storm lost the yardage battle and fell into error playing catch-up.
The Roosters turned pressure into points, bolting to a 12-0 lead inside 15 minutes via tries to Daniel Tupou and Mitchell, the latter giving rival centre Will Chambers nightmares. It was Keary’s smarts that allowed Cronk to take a back seat role as a traffic cop. His long, floating spiral pass for Tupou’s opening try in the 8th minute was simply sublime. The Storm found some running after the break, but when Keary snapped a field-goal, Cronk was left to savour the Power of One.