COOPER Cronk has given an emotional tribute to the three most influential men in shaping his career as he announced 2016 would be his last season with the Melbourne Storm.

Cronk has long been grouped with Cameron Smith and Billy Slater as the club’s ‘big three’ but the two-time Dally M Medallist humbly claimed that term overstated his role.

It was a typical deflection from the member of the trio who took the longest to grow into a star but shone just as brightly as the hooker and fullback once he got there.

Recalling when he first teamed with Smith and Slater way back at under 19 level, Cronk admitted the union with his good friends had made the decision to hang up his purple jersey at the end of this season far more difficult.

Round 19

“It does play a part,” Cronk said.

“We played under 19s for Brisbane Norths together. Cameron Smith used to pick me up in his Holden and drive across the bridge to training.

Cooper Cronk will be a guest on NRL 360 tonight. Tune in to Fox League 502 from 6.30pm to watch the interview!

“ ... I used to stay at Billy’s place and we used to live the dream and try to play professional footy.”

Fifteen years later and not only have they played professional football, they’ve become the most successful teammates of all-time if you go by NRL victories.

Smith became the most winningest player of all-time in Saturday night’s win over the Panthers but what went under the radar was that Cronk and Slater are also in the top 10 and climbing.

History will look back on the Smith/Cronk/Slater years and marvel at how three players of their standing could have played together at the same club for so long after starting out together in the juniors.

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They won grand finals together and represented their state and country together but still Cronk sometimes seems embarrassed to be considered in the same breath.

“To Craig, Cameron and Billy — you talk about the big three, in my eyes they’re the real big three,” Cronk said.

“I’m a distant relative if you talk about those three in terms of the contribution you make to this football club. They’re the three most influential people in this club’s history.

“As long they’re here, whether I’m here or not, there’ll be guaranteed success because one; they’re very good at what they do. Two, their work ethic, and their desire for success.

“Whether I’m here or not, Storm members will be guaranteed success having those three guys here.”

Of course that understates the importance of a quality halfback to any team, particularly when he’s the reigning Golden Boot and Dally M winner.

Cronk will leave a gaping hole for the Storm to fill, a point acknowledged by Bellamy, who said the big announcement had taken him by surprise.

“I think Cooper’s downplaying it a fair bit I think he’ll be very tough to replace,” Bellamy said.

“In six months that will be the tough time, knowing that he’s not going to be playing here anymore.”

Bellamy said he hadn’t yet thought about how to replace Cronk, he just knew it would be hard.

However, every cloud has a silver lining and both Cronk and Bellamy explained why his exit would have big benefits for the club’s succession planning.

“What myself, Billy, Cam and Craig would love to do is all finish up at the same time and ride off into the sunset together,” Cronk said.

“But having all those guys who have played such a significant role for this club moving on at the same time would be incredibly tough moving forward.

“It’s not the reason for the decision, but I think it helps the club.”

Bellamy agreed: “I think I’ve said a couple of times (our exits should be staggered), that is a fact.

“We haven’t thought too much about that. We haven’t sat down as a group and talked about what route we’re going to go down.

“He’s very precious to this club and he always will be but it gives us time to plan for what’s ahead.”