While Cronk’s 2018 signing alongside current skipper James Tedesco forced Roosters favourite son Mitchell Pearce out of the club, a slew of marquee exits have left Robinson with scope to go after Cherry-Evans should he decide to play on next season.
The Dolphins also have the salary cap space to entertain a seven-figure salary and luring Cherry-Evans back to his native Queensland, where he would be viewed as a mentor to rising half Isaiya Katoa.
Cooper Cronk won premierships with the Roosters in 2018 and 2019. Credit: Peter Rae
Canterbury’s salary cap situation is believed to be tighter than those of the Roosters and Dolphins, though club boss Phil Gould has regularly referenced the 2024 finals run being achieved by a squad playing around $700,000 under the cap, with almost another $1 million paid to players at rival clubs.
Cherry-Evans’ durability has been regularly highlighted by the likes of Immortal Andrew Johns, who wrote in this masthead on Thursday that he could play “until he turns 40 if he wants to”, having missed just nine games through injury in 15 seasons.
Robinson agreed that “as preparation and recovery improves, we’re going to have players that are going to play longer,” but has made a point of prioritising the club’s next generation through the recently established Roosters Academy.
“I think people were waiting for us to do something last year and we’ve been pretty clear about what we’ve been doing with our players and our halves,” Robinson said.
“We’re pretty clear about the development of [Walker and Smith] and that doesn’t change. We’re still heading on that path. You do have to be aware of [player] movement and understanding all that, but a lot of things have got to happen, too.”
The Roosters’ recruitment and retention has come under the microscope of late given the unexpected twin departures of Joey Manu and Joseph Suaalii to rugby union that coincided with stalwarts Luke Keary and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves finishing their NRL careers.
Early releases for Terrell May (Wests Tigers) and Sitili Tupouniua (Bulldogs) have also been questioned given the pair have been among the game’s most destructive forwards so far this season.
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Star back-rower Angus Crichton joked this week about taking David Fifita’s pay packet after his sensational backflip on the Roosters led to Crichton’s own retention and career-best form, with the two marking each other on Friday night when the Titans are hosted at Allianz Stadium.
Brandon Smith’s $2.5 million, three-year signing may yet result in an early release to the Rabbitohs later this season once he returns from injury.
His replacement – NSW Origin and Cowboys hooker Reece Robson – is viewed internally as replicating the toughness and reliability of former Roosters skipper Jake Friend, a key figure during their last premiership run with Cronk at the scrumbase.
Robson, Cherry-Evans and Tedesco are all managed by the same player agency, too, which does nothing to douse theories of a similar play to the last major Roosters overhaul – with a champion halfback recruited as its centrepiece.
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