Character will win Origin says Cronk - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Character will win Origin says Cronk

Wayne Heming 12/06/2011 05:09:47 PM Comments (0)

Queensland bench utility Cooper Cronk believes Wednesday night's second State of Origin match in Sydney will be the ultimate test of character, regardless of past deeds.

"There's no greater arena than Origin to test the character and see how long you can hold on in a game of football," declared the Storm halfback.

"You have to hang in and hang in and hope the opposition crack before you do."

Cronk said while NSW had lost five series in a row and the past four games, they would be just as driven to win as Queensland.

"I know if I was on the other side, you'd be doing everything possible to win the next game no matter what happened before," said Cronk.

"That's why Ricky (Stuart) is there. He's so passionate towards the Blues' jersey.

"That's what Mal's (Meninga) best feature is. He's a passionate Queenslander who is very committed to the Queensland spirit.

"That's what he instils in his players and we try and transfer that to the footy field."

Stuart's bold gamble on a mobile pack to slip past Queensland's bigger forwards with a mix of speed and footwork could backfire, with the possibility of a heavy track at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night.

The former Olympic Stadium's surface has never been great for steppers and Cronk believes if the rain continues falling, it'll be even tougher for them to stay on their feet.

Cronk said his former Test coach Ricky Stuart had picked a "dangerous side" with the potential ruck speed to have Queensland back-pedalling.

"Their pack is a dangerous recipe," said Cronk who'd been tremendous for Queensland in four games off the bench.

"If they do get an advantage at the play the ball with their ruck speed, they've got a lot of guys with big bodies and good footwork with movement who can pick up the tempo through the middle of the ruck.

"That's a danger for us.

"But on the other side of the coin, if the game doesn't flow like that, then we can use our bigger bodies to push over their smaller bodies and play our own up-tempo style."

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