In an emotion-charged NRL grand final last night, Storm skipper Cameron Smith failed to mention Cooper Cronk’s last game for the club.
More 2017 NRL Grand Final
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» Match report: Storm slam Cowboys
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» Five talking points from the match
» North Queensland Cowboys player ratings
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» Watch video highlights from the match
Having congratulated the Cowboys for the courageous way they reached the decider and thanked the NRL, major sponsor Telstra. and the Storm fans, it was obvious Smith was leaving Cronk’s departure until last after his 324 games for the Storm.
The ‘big three’ – Smith, Cronk, and Billy Slater – had just played their last game together after 14 seasons.
The farewell never happened.
Smith never makes that sort of mistake, he carefully covers all bases.
Was he in a state of shock after Slater was awarded the coveted Clive Churchill Medal for best on ground in the grand final?
Smith was the popular pick to join Peter Sterling (1986) and Johnathan Thurston (2015) as the only rugby league players to win the Dally M, the premiership, and the Clive Churchill in the same year.
But Smith did achieve a milestone last night with his five conversions taking his career points to 2185 to move into second place above Andrew Johns’ 2176, chasing record holder Hazem El Masri’s 2419.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Slater’s try took his career tally to 182, moving him further ahead of Steve Menzies’ 180, but Slater is still 30 behind the pace-setter Kenny Irvine’s 212.
And Slater is still undecided about his playing future, but if he continues it will definitely be at the Storm.
Cronk is also undecided about his future, but if he continues it won’t be with the Storm as he’s moving to Sydney to be with his fiancee Tara Rushton who works at Fox.
And that’s where I expect Cronk to be full-time, he has the makings of a first class league expert.
And while the NRL is continually under fire on many fronts, fans keep voting with their feet.
In the history of the NRL, there have only been three deciders with both teams out of Sydney.
Yet the crowds are been big.
The 2006 grand final between the Broncos and the Storm at ANZ attracted 79,609.
When the Cowboys beat the Broncos in 2015 in extra time there were 82,758.
And last night there were 79,722 on hand to watch the Storm take care of business over the Cowboys 34-6.
By any standards, those are top-shelf figures.
But nothing could hide the disappointment of the trail-blazing Cowboys, who lost Shaun Fensom with a broken leg just three minutes into the game.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Having fallen into the eight when the beleaguered Bulldogs beat the Dragons in the last round, the Cowboys surprised everyone but themselves to down the defending champion Sharks, Parramatta, and the Roosters to reach the big one.
And for so many games this season the Cowboys have been without their co-captains Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott, two of the world’s best footballers.
But last night saw just how clinically professional the Storm are when push turns to shove.
Not that the Cowboys waved a white flag, far from it – they were simply out-gunned.
Chief playmaker Michael Morgan, born and raised in Townsville, and the master-mind of the finals surge, said he was embarrassed.
“It feels like the waste of a season, to be honest.”
“That scoreline doesn’t reflect all the effort we put in this year”.
Unfortunately there can only be one winner, but the Cowboys can hold their heads high.
They played above themselves in those three wins en route to last night.
Now the new boys on the block know how high the performance bar is to lift the trophy.
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