Cooper Cronk and his Rooster connection

[Grant Hedger]

Not all is lost. Most teams would give a lot to be in our position. But we don't want to just be good, we want to be great. SBW made us great, Fittler made us great, now we need Cronk to make us great. I have nothing against Pearce but our aspirations are higher than what he can deliver at halfback. His defence would make him a stronger hooker together with his hands, kicking and running. In such case I don't think there is a role for Friend.

[Steakface]

All I'm saying is that if the opportunity is there to sign Cronk and offload Pearce then we should do it.

You wouldn't make the swap?

If we can't sign Cronk then obviously we keep Pearce.

I don't think I would if it was me actually, mentioned the reasons on the first page of this thread.

It's a fk load of money to spend - not simply a case of slotting one in for the other.

- we would lose him for origin period and he'd possibly come back busted
- he is getting older and injury prone
- would his heart even still be in it without his best mates at Mel?
- we'd lose others, not just Pearce, to fit him in. Latrell would probably jump somewhere he can get more funds

It would be far more worthwhile if we were talking about a simple swap for Pearce, but it's not the case. Let's deal in reality here.

[Ray Stehr]

Whenever we buy a superstar there is always those that are critical and negative, Fittler, Fulton, SBW and even Beetson had their opponents amongst Easts fans. Signing Cronk is a no brainer, he's available so we should get him for one or two seasons and if young Lam doesn't come good then we should go all out for Cleary. Pearce is spoilt goods.

[Mickie Lane]

Whenever we buy a superstar there is always those that are critical and negative, Fittler, Fulton, SBW and even Beetson had their opponents amongst Easts fans. Signing Cronk is a no brainer, he's available so we should get him for one or two seasons and if young Lam doesn't come good then we should go all out for Cleary. Pearce is spoilt goods.

I cant wait for Lillyman.

[Red_Rooster]

Cannot see this happening - why mess with a team that finished second in the comp. Yes we limped through some games but to completely turn things around in one season with virtually the same squad bar Keary & Gordon is a massive feat. A good off season with all of the current troops plus Tedesco who is our Xfactor is going to set us up well for next year. Ridley will give us a different skill off the bench to what Connor gave us - just hope Robbo uses him to his full potential. I'd say we're a forward or two short - if we can pick anyone up on the cheap to replace Guerra then I think we're solid. I hope Manu really kicks on in the off season and fixes his defence, he's a weapon in attack.

[Mickie Lane]

Not all is lost. Most teams would give a lot to be in our position. But we don't want to just be good, we want to be great. SBW made us great, Fittler made us great, now we need Cronk to make us great. I have nothing against Pearce but our aspirations are higher than what he can deliver at halfback. His defence would make him a stronger hooker together with his hands, kicking and running. In such case I don't think there is a role for Friend.

I think you are on the mark.

[Bondicigar]

I cant wait for Lillyman.

i dont want to rain on your parade but lillyman signed a 1 year deal with newcastle. Dodged a bullet there

[Mickie Lane]

i dont want to rain on your parade but lillyman signed a 1 year deal with newcastle. Dodged a bullet there

Nah he's coming to the Roosters. Ray Stehr knows someone pretty high up at the Roosters & he started a thread about it so it must be true. Hayne is also coming to the Chooks there was 15 threads about it..

[Lydon]

Not all is lost. Most teams would give a lot to be in our position. But we don't want to just be good, we want to be great. SBW made us great, Fittler made us great, now we need Cronk to make us great. I have nothing against Pearce but our aspirations are higher than what he can deliver at halfback. His defence would make him a stronger hooker together with his hands, kicking and running. In such case I don't think there is a role for Friend.

Spot on mate,well put

[mattyh]

Isnt jayden nikorima going to be the next brad fittler ? Im just waiting for him to dominate season 2016 and win us a premiership ...

[mattyh]

Can ppl seriously stop fellating cronk....he is good but nowhere near as good as some on here are making out, his main asset would be his total professional/ ocd approach he brings to each and every game , im not happy about pearce going missing in big games but friend goes missing more, seriously cronk im fairly confident is riding c smiths coat tails, i have c smith bracketed with a johns as the best ive seen , b fittler a close second with thurston

[ROC181]

Can ppl seriously stop fellating cronk....he is good but nowhere near as good as some on here are making out, his main asset would be his total professional/ ocd approach he brings to each and every game , im not happy about pearce going missing in big games but friend goes missing more, seriously cronk im fairly confident is riding c smiths coat tails, i have c smith bracketed with a johns as the best ive seen , b fittler a close second with thurston

Well as they say in the classics, that's your opinion meanwhile every Sydney club and fans would hope that they could get him in their club AND then there's the media who all rate him as one of the best in the game... so it's safe to say that you're in the minority not only here but in the NRL world.

[Rooster_6]

Definitely the best pure halfback in the game for mine although will be interesting to see how he goes without the help of Cam Smith whose been beside him from day dot in every team he's played in.

He's not the 'gamebreaker' everyone is asking for though. I think comparisons to Fittler & SBW are well off the mark.

Tedesco fits that description a lot more closely.

[rented tracksuit]

Definitely the best pure halfback in the game for mine although will be interesting to see how he goes without the help of Cam Smith whose been beside him from day dot in every team he's played in.

He's not the 'gamebreaker' everyone is asking for though. I think comparisons to Fittler & SBW are well off the mark.

Tedesco fits that description a lot more closely.

That makes a lot of sense. I have been saying for a while now that it will be very interresting seeing out of his comfort zone in the Storm. While I agree he's not a game breaker, I don't think it's ever been his role. He has always had players around him to do that. Where he is valuable is being the perfect assistant to those game breakers.

If he decides to play on, no matter where he ends up, the first game he comes up against the Storm will probably be one of the highest rating games of the year.

[BUDDY]

No doubt Smith has helped Cronk's game. But if Pearce was playing for Melbourne, how would he go?
IMO Cronk has a better kicking game especially inside the 20m, he is at least on par with his defence but one thing he has that Pearce doesn't is composure particularly inside the 20m. No panic rushed decisions. He reads the plays much better. That is one thing Pearce will never have. That is one thing that has cost us many games over the years.
Interesting the reports that we still have $800K to spend. It makes it an easy decision if we can offload Pearce and money still left in the bank.
Ideally Pearce would be better off at hooker for us but I can't see him ever agreeing to that.