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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 3083542, member: 1899"] I understand where fans are coming, Cronk won twice as many grand finals as Andrew Johns, but was only instrumental in the first premiership (2012). This impression was crystalised in the 2018 Grand Final when Cooper Cronk spent portions of the match positioned as a trainer well behind the play and rarely involved himself in the contest. Sydney won easily on the night despite Cronk's application or lack there of. In contrast, Joey set up the match winner in 1997 despite missing half the season and then controlled things beautifully to orchestrate one of the biggest upsets in Grand Final history against the Eels. So I can understand why fans don't consider personal records the end all to be end all. If that was the case, then Kevin Walters six premierships would make him a better five eighth than Wally Lewis and Bobby Fulton, an opinion that's shared by very few people. Cronk should get there someday, but at this point he'll have to bide his time and wait for at least Lockyer, Smith and Thurston to be recognised. I feel Lockyer and Smith speak for themselves, but with Thurston the fact he was preferred over Cronk for so long in rep teams will give him the edge, similar to the Lewis vs. Kenny debate. I wouldn't mind digging into this further but on the surface this is how I see it. Cooper Cronk was very much by the book. He's an extremely coachable player and if you give him basic instructions he'll execute them to a tee and can control a game beautifully. However if you're chasing points and you need to conjure up points and adapt to the situation, he could be found wanting. JT wasn't as consistent as Cronk but he had a better read of the game and wasn't afraid to chance his arm more. JT was able to perform outside of structures and rely more on his natural instincts and talent which made him such a difficult player to coach against. Both extremely good players, but I tend to believe fans, coaches and players respect a player of JT's talent more than Cooper. [/QUOTE]

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