Sydney Roosters skipper Boyd Cordner says star recruit Cooper Cronk has been the side's best player in the back half of the season and his importance will only grow during the NRL finals series.
This weekend will mark Cronk's 14th year playing finals football in a 15-year career, having only missed one finals series in 2010 due to Melbourne's salary cap breaches.
Cordner said the former Kangaroos halfback's finals experience would be a huge asset for the Roosters during the next four weeks.
"He never really has a bad game Cooper and he's been massive for us this season," Cordner said.
"Especially mid to late in the season where we've gone on a bit of a run, he's been one of our best players.
"He played more finals games than any of us here at the Roosters so his experience is going to help us out a lot in that sense for finals."
Nothing changes for Cronk
The Roosters clinched the minor premiership for the fourth time in six seasons last weekend but Cordner insisted finishing top of the tree hadn't been the team's focus throughout the home-and-away season, saying the top four had been the goal for Trent Robinson's men.
"It is a really tough competition this year so [it's] a pretty big achievement to finish on top of the regular season," Cordner told NRL.com.
"But in the long scheme of things it doesn't mean much, we're after one trophy and that's one they hand out after the grand final.
"We didn't have the minor premiership in our minds, it was mainly a top-four finish so we could get two cracks during the finals.
"The start of the season was pretty shaky for us but we've found some consistency there and put ourselves in a position to finish on top."
Match Highlights: Eels v Roosters - Round 25, 2018
With six wins from their last eight games the Roosters are taking plenty of confidence into Saturday's clash with the dangerous Cronulla Sharks at Allianz Stadium.
"We're comfortable in where we're sitting at the moment as a team and how our form is looking," Cordner told NRL.com.
"I think we're timing it pretty good and we still have a lot more in us.
"Every time we've come up against the Sharks it's been a really tough challenge for us so we will expect nothing different.
"We know what they bring as a side so it will be tough battle for us first up."