“But we had to have that discussion. We’ve known each other long enough. It was really honest from both parties. There were only two options: stop playing or believe in the ability of the body to heal itself. Once the first option of retiring wasn’t an option, we started to discuss the second.”

The Roosters have decided to reveal that process to the Herald to demystify some of the assumptions and mistruths being reported about Cordner’s playing future.

Indeed, the decision to play on only came after a series of rigorous tests involving some of the country’s leading specialists.

The first was with respected neurologist Chris Levi, who was commissioned for an independent evaluation at the behest of the NRL after Cordner ruled himself out of the Origin series.

After that, the club consulted Rowena Mobbs, the Clinical Co-Director at the Australian Sports Brain Bank, who treated him for some of the lingering symptoms from the Origin concussion.

She then sent Cordner for an MRI scan of his brain with a state-of-the-art, high-resolution machine at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. The result was a “pristine” brain with no degeneration or injury revealed.

The final testing was done with Dr Andrew Gardner, who specialises in sports concussions and had done baseline testing with Cordner about 18 months ago after he suffered some of his first concussions.

The results of those neuropsychological and neurocognitive tests were surprising: there had been no decline on some areas and actual improvement in others.

“There was nothing to suggest he shouldn’t play football again,” Robinson said. “If you do all the tests, and nobody says he should retire, and you believe in the capability of the body to heal, in the elasticity of the brain to heal itself, you start on a plan to get him back to training. All the testing came back positive. If it came back negative, it would’ve been a different story.

“But it wasn’t a matter of just taking a couple of months off getting back into it. The option to start the season was not an option. It wasn’t even discussed. If you tear a hamstring, lay on the lounge and then run again, you’ll do your hamstring.”

So, a detailed plan was devised by Robinson, club doctor Tom Longworth and Gardner to get their captain back on the field. It is divided into three eight-week blocs.

The first, which Cordner is about to complete after starting just before Christmas, focuses on recovery and re-strengthening.

“He’s been doing a lot of body alignment work,” Robinson explained. “He’s got this amazing physical and mental strength, but after all the matches and rep games, his mind kept going and his body slowed down in being able to do what it wanted to do.”

Cordner has been training away from the club, although he joined his teammates last week for a pre-season bonding camp in northern NSW.

“That was part of the deal: to have a break away from the club,” Robinson said.

The second stage will see Cordner running, along with speed and agility work. There will also be a jiu-jitsu component.

“We want him doing the contact work without the collision,” Robinson said. “So, he gets the physical contact but not collision-based parts we get in our game. Martial arts work aligning body and mind.”

The third stage will see Cordner introduced to training for eight weeks before a decision is made by the club and his specialists about a possible return. He will also undergo independent evaluation by the NRL.

“But there’s no fixed date we are looking at,” Robinson insisted. “He needs to be progressing through each stage at the right time. If things don’t go as planned, then we will re-think it. This isn’t for anybody else but for Boyd. We didn’t come up with it for external reasons. We think this is the best way to rebuild someone who’s given his heart and soul to the club.”

Interestingly, none of the specialists the Roosters consulted said Cordner needed to miss any game time — although people will continue to argue he should simply walk away now.

Perhaps they are right. There were two haunting images from last season.

The first was of a dazed Cordner trying to play the ball but knocking on in the dying minutes of the Roosters’ epic golden-point loss to the Storm in round eight. The second came in the Origin opener when the Blues skipper trotted back onto the field, much to the amazement of most people.

“He wasn’t right on both occasions, but he still gets up to play the ball, he still goes back on the field,” Robinson said. “That’s the warrior that is Boyd — to keep going. But his body has been saying he can’t. That’s where it had to stop.”

Wouldn’t it be easier to just retire him? To err on the side of caution?

“We discussed it,” Robinson said. “But the medical advice suggested otherwise.”

If he feels at any stage over the next four months that Cordner should retire, will he tell him?

“Definitely, without a doubt. I feel a deep responsibility. Not to the public — to Boyd. What is the most important thing Boyd needs and what is Boyd capable of? People only thought there were two options: play or retire. Let’s believe in what a player is capable of and let’s repair that. I know we’re doing the right thing.”

The Roosters do not need clearance from the NRL to take this course of action, as many have wrongly assumed.

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Their submission for $350,000 of salary cap relief is still sitting on the desk of the salary cap auditor but it’s expected to be granted because the last concussion happened during a representative match.

The wider issue of cap exemptions for concussions was discussed at last Thursday’s ARL Commission meeting but nothing specific about Cordner and his return to the field was debated.

Clubs have been chirping behind the scenes for months about the Roosters’ motives in standing down Cordner until the middle of the year.

In reality, the easier option would be to medically retire him.

Signed until the end of 2023, on a reported $850,000 a year, a medical retirement would save them salary cap space and also delivered Cordner a handy final payday.

The Roosters also have two quality back-rowers in Angus Crichton and Sitili Tupouniua who could feel the breach. Cordner, meanwhile, may never return to being the player he once was.

But salary cap and roster concerns have been irrelevant.

“This is simply about Boyd, who still has the fire in him to play,” Robinson said. “And nothing else.”