Trent Robinson can’t be certain that Cooper Cronk will play next week, but there was no way he was going to get an early shower against South Sydney.
Unable to lift his left arm after suffering a shoulder injury late in the first half, Cronk refused to come off while a grand final spot was at stake. Which is why Robinson didn’t give him the option.
Aftermath: Luke Keary, Trent Robinson and Cooper Cronk count the costs of victory.
“No. It wasn’t even discussed. I didn’t even ask how he was,” Robinson said.
“Cooper knows how he is and needed to get work done there at half-time. He was always going to go back out there but it looked pretty sore.”
The shoulders of Cronk and Billy Slater will be the biggest talking points in coming days. Robinson predicted his star halfback would be fit to take on former club Melbourne, but the medicos will make the final call.
“Dunno. I’m not sure,” Robinson said.
“Obviously ice and he’ll go and get scans and stuff. I saw what you saw of him carrying it at the back end of the first half.
“Then all of the second half you could that Luke [Keary] took over a lot there. That was pretty impressive from him.
“I’m not sure. I know you want information straight away but he will go and get scans tonight and we will know more.
“I’d say he will be right to play next week.”
Cronk made six tackles before his injury but only five more afterwards. The Rabbitohs appeared unable to find him in the defensive line.
“We didn’t necessarily look to chase him,” said Souths coach Anthony Seibold.
Insult to injury: Cooper Cronk goes down after being smashed in a late tackle by Tevita Tatola.
“We wanted to put him under pressure when he kicked the footy.
“That didn’t have any impact on the game.”
Asked if they should have run more traffic at the injured playmaker, Seibold said: “You spend your life targeting Cooper, I don’t understand. He was still making his tackles.
“Where we needed to be better was our attention to detail in attack. We didn’t get to the right areas on the field.”
Robinson praised the work of Joseph Manu and Mitchell Aubusson in shielding Cronk without the ball.
“You saw Aubusson, the work that he did,” he said.
“He worked tirelessly in and around Cooper. And also Joey Manu. I’m not sure how many he made, but he made some big efforts around Cooper as well.
“It’s an experienced guy knowing how to work his way around the field without actually have to make too many incidental ones.”
The Storm and Roosters battled it out to the end for the minor premiership and will now meet for the right to claim the major one.
“We know what to expect from the Storm,” Robinson said.
“My focus will be on readying for that but also getting the best out of us. There’s a cog or two more to go for us. We haven’t stopped improving all year and we have a week left for improvement.”
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