One by one, Labor's fowl yard of once influential plotters, players and schemers is being cleared of its "roosters".

Stephen Conroy's silent departure from the Senate leaves Wayne Swan as the sole surviving parliamentary member of a band of ALP brothers which sought to rule the roost in caucus — mostly through the wilderness years of the Howard government.

Along with Mr Swan and Stephen Smith, Senator Conroy and the "roosters" — so labelled by Mark Latham — were the quintessential workers of right faction numbers through the turbulent era which brought the rise and/or fall of the Beazley, Crean, Latham, Beazley, Rudd, Gillard, Rudd and Shorten leaderships.

Senator Conroy made special mention of the "group of passionate and dedicated Labor icons … called many things over the years, but the name which stuck the most is the 'Roosters'" as he made his unspoken resignation in the Senate.

A looser affiliation of feathery fiends would form around the original trio, depending on the cause, the policy or the personality in play at any given time — Anthony Albanese chief among them — but the Conroy, Swan, Smith bond was an especially enduring one.

Conroy would best like to be remembered for the NBN

Sorry, this video has expired Stephen Conroy tables a speech in the Senate

Senator Conroy is regarded by colleagues as a complex character — divisive, supportive, calculated, cunning, ruthless and caring.

For all his mastery and use of "the numbers" in Labor's right faction, one former Labor senator recently told of the party's battle-hardened Deputy Senate Leader becoming visibly emotional when farewelling him after his own recent decision to quit politics.

Senator Conroy had sprung from the powerful Victorian right faction, via the Transport Workers Union and as a protege of Robert Ray when he entered the Parliament in 1996.

Of all the things he fought for in politics, he would most like to be remembered for the National Broadband Network (NBN) — an idea he had first been exposed to through a long-running association with the Australian American Leadership dialogue and an ongoing interest in the United States.

He lists the NBN as "my greatest contribution", which also explains why Liberal Government design downgrades and Federal Police leak investigations appeared to cut deeply into his political pride.

In his latter years in Opposition, Senator Conroy also expanded his interests into national security and in the shadow defence portfolio he took a typically assertive approach towards China, drawing on a natural political instinct.

Conroy exits politics an enigma to many

His policy legacy aside, it is Senator Conroy's power and the vacuum he leaves which will have a more enduring effect.

The stability of the caucus will in the medium-term depend on a smooth transition of power from the 53-year-old senator to his successor, as will the careers of several caucus members he has sponsored — Bill Shorten, Richard Marles, Jacinta Collins, David Feeney, Mark Dreyfus, Clare O'Neill and Michael Danby — to name only a few.

While his mastery of the ALP "machine" is unquestioned, Senator Conroy exits politics an enigma to many.

"Weird" is the word most often used to describe him — even by those who admire him.

That "weirdness" could occasionally explain confronting behaviours like his 2016 attack on the Governor-General for "demeaning his office" or his ill-tempered accusation that a career-long military officer who ran Operation Sovereign Borders had engaged in a "political cover-up".

Eccentricities and passions can also be confused for "weirdness" and most Labor figures will readily agree Senator Conroy exhibited both.

He was the most ardent of parliamentary sporting participants and an unshakeable Collingwood and Chelsea supporter.

Despite the odd manner of his leaving — "weird to the end" says one — no caucus member the ABC has spoken to questions his motivation.

All agree the reason is as the outgoing senator said, or would have said if he had spoken his speech to the Senate.

"When you resent being in Canberra because you are missing your daughter's soccer training, it is time to retire from the Federal Parliament."

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