Cooper Cronk is a rugby player who plays in the NRL for the Sydney Roosters as a halfback. Having started his career in 2004, he has also played for Australia international and home state Queensland. Even though he retired from both teams in 2017 at the end of the World Cup, he remained active with his club, Sydney Roosters.
His career has been rewarded with numerous awards and accolades, including two Dally M Player of the Year awards and a World Rugby League Gold Trophy.
Cooper Cronk Biography
The Australian professional rugby league footballer was born on December 5, 1983 in Brisbane, Australia, Patrick Cronk.
He was raised by his parents, Rick Cronk and Wendy Cronk alongside his siblings. The elder Cronk was also a rugby player having played in Bondi United rugby league in the 1960s and 1970s. He also played for the Roosters in the youth teams. Some reports indicate that Cooper’s paternal grandparents also excelled in certain sports.
Since childhood, he was trained in sports thanks to his father. For his education he went to St. Laurence’s College in South Brisbane, where he was part of the school’s rugby union.
After graduating, he played for Queensland and Australian Schoolboys Rugby League and was selected by the North Devils team to play in the Queensland Cup. It was there that he rose to prominence after registering 37 tries for the team.
In 2004 he made his debut for the MelbourneStorms with whom he played until 2017. With The Storms he was named Halfback of the Season 2006 by Dally M. He won the award again in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. He was also named Dally M’s Player of the Year in 2013 and 2016.
Towards the end of the 2017 NRL season, the rugby star announced he was leaving the team and moving to Sydney. According to him, his decision was not related to football but to family reasons.
In 2018, he joined the Sydney Roosters on a two-year deal. In his first season, he played in all 26 games for the team, including the grand final in which he was forced to play with a broken shoulder blade. Despite the injury, he still managed to help his new club beat his old club, the Melbourne Storm.
Wife, fiancé or girlfriend
In 2017, when Cooper Cronk announced he was leaving Melbourne Storm for Sydney, there was much shock as after 14 years many believed the Rugby Hall of Famer was going to end his career at within the team.
However, it was not for nothing that Cronk was leaving as he wanted to go there and meet his fiancée Tara Rushton. To anyone who wondered why he would make such a move at the peak of his career, Cronk simply said there was more to life than football.
Prior to making the move, Cronk and Tara who works as a Fox Sports presenter had dated for a number of years. Their relationship was mostly distant, but that didn’t stop them from getting engaged earlier in 2017 before he decided to move out in order to give his fiancée the chance to advance his career, which he said he had worked very hard.
The couple tied the knot in December 2017 on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The event was celebrated by their families and close friends. In July 2018, the couple welcomed their first child together. The son’s name is given by Lennox Ryder Cronk.
other facts
1. Prior to his departure for Sydney, Cronk was not on the best of terms with his former teammate, Cameron Smith.
2. Before 2019, many expected him to retire in 2018, but he may be playing until 2020.
3. Cronk has won a total of 5 NRL Grand Finals; 4 with the Melbourne Storm and 1 with the Sydney Roosters. That said, two of the titles were stripped as a result of team salary cap violations.
4 One of the best in the sport, Cooper Cronk has made much of his fortune. It is thanks to him that he has a net worth estimated at more than 3 million dollars. In 2017, he bought a $3.5 million house in Sydney with Tara Rushton.
5. The Australian professional rugby star is 178cm tall and weighs 89kg.
