Melbourne Storm legend Billy Slater spoke to Big League about Cooper Cronk's approach to this weekend's preliminary final and doesn't think his former teammate will be focused on the emotion of it being his potentially last game in the NRL.

The Roosters halfback has already announced that he will retire at the end of the season and will hope to extend his career by one more week with a win over the Storm, where he spent 14 years.

โ€œIโ€™m sure heโ€™s not approaching it as his last game,โ€ said Slater.

โ€œI donโ€™t think thereโ€™ll be a whole heap made about Cooper playing the Storm again because thereโ€™s so much more at stake for both teams.

โ€œTheyโ€™re in amazing form and theyโ€™ve hit their straps at the right time. Melbourne played the best that theyโ€™ve played all year against Parramatta, so wow, I think this will be a grand final come a week early.โ€

After two clashes in the regular season, both sides came away with a win and both are in great form now.

The Roosters started the finals with a 30-6 thrashing of the Rabbitohs while Melbourne initially lost to Canberra before a 32-0 shutout over the Eels.

โ€œWhen you finish in the top four, youโ€™ve got to win three games in a row to lift the trophy. The Storm got the advantage of not performing to their best in the first week but still having the chance to win three and hold that premiership up,โ€ Slater said.

โ€œThey bounced back against Parramatta to book their spot in a preliminary final but theyโ€™ll face a Roosters side who had the chance to freshen up after the week off. Theyโ€™ll have a full tank of gas to call upon and they know who theyโ€™ve got so they can prepare as well as anyone because theyโ€™ve had double the time.โ€

6 COMMENTS

  1. When it comes to Storm produced Cronk he is up there with Farrah for media seeking attention.
    Cronky loves a microphone and a camera to rabble on about nothing for a few minutes.

  2. Twentyone I dont know who Willywonka77 is. But its not me. I have had one other user name on this site had to change because of a tech problem. The other name was jazzman.

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