Cooper Cronk says everything is "fine" between himself and former team-mate Cameron Smith as rumours of a fall-out between the pair continue to circulate.
The duo spent more than a decade together at Melbourne Storm, winning two NRL Grand Finals, including last year's 34-6 demolition of North Queensland Cowboys.
Cronk subsequently departed for Sydney Roosters, a move which it has been suggested was the start of a cooling in their relationship.
Speculation mounted further when the pair shared a perfunctory handshake following the Storm's 9-8 win over the Roosters in June – a victory sealed by Smith's drop-goal before Cronk saw a similar attempt charged down in the dying seconds.
But when pressed on the nature of his relationship with his former team-mate, Cronk insisted there were no problems.
"It's fine," he said. "From my point of view, it absolutely is fine.
"I know there will be a lot of talk about it, and everyone has their right to adjudicate or their opinion, but I'm not in the area of commenting publicly.
"From my point of view, everything's fine.
"You guys can take to it as you wish. You can dissect it as right or as inaccurately as you want but at the end of the day, I'm not going to be discussing anything publicly."
