Cronk cherishes roles of mentoring young playmakers

While halfback Cooper Cronk will be doing everything in his power to help the Roosters achieve on-field success in 2019, he believes his two years at the club should be judged as much on how the next generation of playmakers go in the years after his retirement.

Cronk's two-year spell at the Roosters yielded immediate success with a 2018 premiership and the former long-serving Storm No.7 will go down in folklore after his efforts to play through a broken scapula in the decider.

But it is his impact on turning five-eighth Luke Keary into a genuine, dominant, game-managing half that could be just as important for the club beyond this season, as well as any lessons he can impart to up-and-comers Lachlan Lam, Brock Lamb, Drew Hutchison and former schoolboy rugby star Sam Walker.

"Part of the job for me here, I get judged on wins and losses and hopefully become successful but the one thing I really hold close to me is making sure this football team is in a better position to win its next competition post my [playing] days," Cronk said.

"Hopefully I've done that with the development of Luke and a few other guys and hopefully then you'll see that continued development through guys like Lam and Walker and so forth.

"One thing I've really enjoyed in my time here at the Roosters is the relationships I've developed with the coaching staff, admin staff, board members and players.

"As long as I'm still around and hopefully keeping those relationships I'm more than happy to help guys wherever they need."

The Roosters signed teenage prodigy Walker last month despite interest from other NRL clubs and rugby, with the now-17-year-old touring the facilities recently.

"He's a lot younger than me!" Cronk laughed when asked for his first impressions of the son of Ben Walker, the former Brisbane, Northern Eagles and Souths half and current Ipswich co-coach.

"He has a lot more skill and knowledge of the game than I did at that age."

Cronk said a personal desire to succeed was still driving him to get the Roosters back on track after a mini-slump and he was critical of his performance in Sunday's narrow loss to the Cowboys in which the team failed on several field goal attempts.

"I have pride in my performance, that's the one thing that keeps me going, I love being successful, I love the big moments and the pressure of those things," Cronk said.

"One thing I've learned towards the back end of my career is I'm pretty content with my career. I don't have this selfish drive to want to finish on top, it's not about me.

"It's about sharing moments I've been fortunate enough to achieve with guys that haven't. That's the thing that drives me.

"I remember sitting in the change rooms last year [after the grand final] seeing guys like James Tedesco, Blake Ferguson, Joey Manu and that's the first time they've tasted the ultimate success and I got a real kick out of doing that.

"There's a little bit that you want to compete and go after everything that's on offer but there's also a drive that this organisation has invested a lot in me and a bit of heartache as well so there's a bit to pay back for that. It's more about what I can do for this footy club not what this club can do for me."

Cronk was unconcerned about the club's ability to get back on track after losing five of their past seven, though he refused to blame the disruptions with players being injured or rested through the Origin period for the patchy results heading into Saturday's clash with Newcastle at the SCG.

"You can break down missed tackles, missed field goals, a lack of flow with your attack, and they're points to it, but it's not a physical thing we're missing," he said.

"I think it's an application of the individual bringing their best game then collectively our team playing well. If you look at the way we've played, they're not the question marks anyone asks about us, it's about the team bringing its performance on the weekend.

"It's pretty easily fixed if you're a selfless footy team and have a team-first mentality."