Sydney Roosters halfback Cooper Cronk has announced his intention to retire from the NRL at the end of the season.
The 35-year-old is in the second and final year of his contract with the Roosters and on Monday he confirmed he will draw the curtain on his 16-year career.
Cronk will be remembered as one of the game’s champion halfbacks after a career including 22 State of Origin appearances for Queensland and 38 Tests for Australia.
Cronk began his career at Melbourne where he played in seven grand finals for four wins, although the Storm’s 2007 and 2009 titles were later stripped for salary cap cheating.
He went down in Roosters folklore when he last year played through a broken shoulder blade to lead the Tri-Colours to a grand final victory over the Storm.
He has played 357 first-grade matches and earlier this month jumped Darren Lockyer into second on the NRL’s all-time most-games list.