Inside Robbo's grand final speech for the ages moments after full-time

‘‘Cooper explained to me that there is a fair bit to do with Tara [his wife Tara Rushton] with all of that. The stability at home and the honest conversations . . . This is legend status in the history of our game. Cooper is not after that, but that’s what he has become in that moment: one of the greatest performances in the history of rugby league.

‘‘To everyone in the room, everybody played a part for us to be here right now. I may not know all of you, but I know that you had an influence on somebody in this room, somebody in this circle for us to win this competition.

‘‘At the start of the year we decided we’d talk about home. It was about us creating the club we want to create – the greatest club in the history of rugby league . . .

‘‘We love hanging around each other and when times get tough and the noise starts when the tough games happen, you stand side-by-side and deliver. That’s what our club is about and that’s why you dig deep in tough times.’’

Politis twists the knife

There was a light moment during the Robinson speech to his players. Chairman Nick Politis’ mobile phone went off and he couldn’t get it to shut it down. What Politis won’t say publicly is that the preliminary final win against Souths was better than the grand final win over the Storm.

He was clearly referencing Souths in his speech to the team when he said: ‘‘I know that our friends from over the other side keep talking about us having no soul and we live in their shadows. Well, the bottom line is that 21 minor premierships make us the best club and I am very proud of you.’’

Super Cooper

We have heard all about the physical side of what Cronk did, but the mental strength he showed is just hard to comprehend.

‘‘I was really unemotional with it ... I think you have to be,’’ he said. ‘‘It honestly was, ‘when is my next massage, when is my next treatment’, day by day, day by day. ‘‘I only started thinking about playing on Friday night. Saturday morning was the time I thought I could have a chance. I suppose with all the subplots the injury was a silver lining.’’

He paid tribute to his wife. ‘‘She has been pretty special the last 3 years ... she was super special this week,’’ he said.

Satts all folks

Cronk was having none of the comparisons to John Sattler, who suffered a badly broken jaw in the 1970 grand final. Dealing with the mental anguish of taking an injury into a grand final makes Cronk’s achievement greater, in this column’s opinion.

‘‘John Sattler has me covered,’’ Cronk said. ‘‘He was tough and uncompromising; I haven't made a dominant tackle in 15 years. I was just closing my eyes most of the time.’’

Luke lives large

Most impressive in the party stakes, according to Roosters players, was Clive Churchill Medallist Luke Keary. ‘‘Best on field, best off it,’’ Latrell Mitchell said.

A cut above

Best souvenir of the grand final belongs to Dr Craig Harris, the radiologist who helped Roosters doctor Ameer Ibrahim administer the painkillers to Cronk. He has the jumper that was cut off Cronk at half-time to speed up his painkillers.

Inglis could have saved his place in Roos team

Greg Inglis’ handling of his drink-driving charge during the week not only cost him the Kangaroos captaincy, but also his place in the team. Once Inglis was charged with mid-range drink driving on Sunday on his way back from the Koori Knockout in Dubbo, he was never going to be allowed to lead the Kangaroos in their Tests against New Zealand and Tonga later this month.

But the Rabbitohs star blew any chance he had of retaining his place in the team when he fronted the media the following day. If Inglis had voluntarily relinquished the captaincy and offered to devote his match payments of about $23,000 to a road safety program, it would have been almost impossible for the NRL to impose a heavier sanction.

Everyone understood how much the Australian captaincy meant to Inglis and any further penalty would have been seen as harsh and unnecessary. But, inexplicably, Inglis refused to give any ground, insisting he still wanted to lead the Kangaroos.

That meant the NRL had to come up with the punishment, leaving chief executive Todd Greenberg with little option but to stand him down from both matches.

We can only imagine that Inglis was advised to take a hard-line stance and it proved to be the wrong approach.

It capped a terrible fortnight for the Rabbitohs. The Sam Burgess video saga was a massive distraction and clearly affected Sam and some of his teammates as they bowed out of the finals.

Then the club could only sit back and cringe as former Bunny Luke Keary not only won a premiership with the Roosters but took home the Clive Churchill Medal as the best player on the field.

Judging by the Rabbitohs’ stilted attack in the finals, they could have used Keary at the back end of the season.

Prying eyes

The Bulldogs weren’t the only ones with a long lens camera prying into their end-of-season celebrations. NRL staff headed to Clovelly Bowling Club during the week to mark the close of a tough season. They were surprised to see a cameraman in a nearby street with his lens trained on their every move.

Naturally, the photographer’s prize catch would have been a shot of Todd Greenberg or chief operating officer Nick Weeks playing up with a beer in hand. But Greenberg and Weeks missed the function because they were stuck in the office dealing with the Inglis issue.

The cameraman left empty-handed with NRL staff showing the Bulldogs how it should be done.

Sam mending fences

Sam Burgess has been doing a lot to ensure his life away from football can withstand anything and he has been working hard on his relationship with his wife Phoebe. The pair have been through a lot in recent days and there may be more tough times to come. They have booked a trip to Fiji to get away from all the drama. It is understood Sam has had some downtime on Russell Crowe’s property.

Danny Weidler is a reporter with Channel Nine news.