BY KANE AUSTIN

Cooper Cronk is a different kind of cat. He is one of the best halfbacks to play the modern game but he’s also out there and isn’t afraid to be himself.

Leading up the State of Origin I – these quotes will do one of two things to you.

If you’re a Queenslander, you’ll be reminded of the special person Cooper is.

If you’re a New South Welshman, you’ll probably want Tyson Frizell or Andrew Fifita to run over him!

Here they are… 20 direct quotes from the defunct but oh so legendary coopercronk.com:

1. “One day a scruffy kid is going to approach me after a game. And I’m going to know by the look on his face that he found this website and found something to flick the switch for him.”
2. “I read a story recently about Princess Charlene of Monaco, a former Olympic athlete who teaches poor kids to swim. It was interesting to me for two reasons. First, the princess was visiting Melbourne and watching some local kids go through a set of drills. At one point they were doing tumbling exercises which she hadn’t seen before. She said she was going to try these exercises out on her students in the future. This impressed me because it showed she was always looking out for better ways to do things. She wasn’t stuck in a rut and was open to learning something new.”
3. “I’m fortunate enough to have a small group of people, in different areas of my life, that help keep me grounded and focused. I treasure their company and I am a better man because they have taken the journey with me.”
4. “Your legacy is what you did with your life, not how many tantrums you managed to throw. Relationships are steps towards to achievement, not the other way around.”
5. “When you’re ready to make wise decisions that might make you deeply unpopular and you’re ready to take the heat from others for making them, you’re well on your way to the place called respect. Because we all love those who can’t be bought. Even though we might pretend otherwise.”
6. “I’m not expecting to be accepted into Oxford University anytime soon, but no one should ever feel they don’t have some capacity to read and grow through the value of good books.”
7. “Go to a small independent bookstore, ideally when they’re not four deep at the counter, and tell them you would like a hand finding a book that fits your interests and capacity to read.”
8. “If it’s in a box and it’s called breakfast cereal it’s probably not that good for you.”
9. “People often ask me what I’m listening to minutes before the game. The truth is not what you may think. It’s most likely to be something that takes my heart rate down and calms my mind to a place of stillness. Because it’s only in stillness you can find the clarity to achieve greatness.”

10. “You haven’t arrived in life, you haven’t reached any point of great significance until you can look yourself in the mirror sober, and love and admire the person looking back at you.”
11. “We think we can outsmart loneliness; we’ve created institutions like marriage as insurance against it happening to us personally.”
12. “I grow tired of people who talk big but are scared chickens when it comes to being real and showing some real vulnerability or emotion.”
13. “Ever walked into a shop and felt the energy of someone working behind the counter who loves their job?”
14. “You don’t have to love everybody you meet in your life but you become bigger as a person when you can find something good in everyone.”
15. “The whole is always greater that the singular achievement of the few.”
16. “Well known as the author of the best seller EAT, PRAY, LOVE, Elizabeth Gilbert has that rare ability of being able to draw you into her company and feed you slowly with her extraordinarily comfortable style of public speaking.”

17. “There is always someone else out there that knows more than you do. And that’s as true for me today as it was when I was 15 years old. Even Superman needed advice. Even blokes like me.”
18. “When I was younger – about 14, 15 or 16 – I would often compete with myself and I still do it today.”
19. “I had a major complex about my size. I always wanted to be bigger. I guess this is where I developed my bulldog instincts.”
20. “I don’t pretend to imagine that I can necessarily be of assistance to each of them, but in some small way I hope I guided them in the right direction to others who might.”