HE ARRIVED in Melbourne as Mad Mick, a wild man, but he will leave it not only as plain old Michael, but, get this, a family man. A name change, a game change and, off the field, something of a lame change. He says he's boring now. One man, a missus, three pets - but still the potential for as many premiership rings.

As he prepares to leave rainy old Melbourne for rainy old Hull, Crocker has revealed that the former, or specifically its rugby league club, had saved him.

"Definitely," Crocker said. "Coming to an organisation like this, where they've built up a reputation as a family club, and they built that culture of respect and dignity … I came down here and I knew that I had to adhere to that … The coach [Craig Bellamy] put me under no pressure to change my ways but I knew that it was expected of me.

"Sydney was one of those places where you've got the choice to live a party lifestyle or not and I was making bad choices. For one year my girl [Sally] was there with me and I think she had some moments where she was wondering what the hell she was doing with me. It was a big shock for her coming down from a nice little quiet town in Brisbane to Sydney and seeing what blokes like me got up to off the field."

Which was, at its worst, being charged with affray and fined $10,000 by the Roosters, part of the reason the Storm mean more to him than does his previous footballing home.

"I've got some wonderful mates there," Crocker said. "But football-wise I'll always call Melbourne home in the fact that it's offered me so much on and off the field."

Crocker has not curbed his ways completely. But while his previous seasons have been marred by suspensions, he is more likely to make the highlight reels for match-turning moments these days, with the same aggression.

Take last season's grand final, in which he provided the play that altered the course of the game, not to mention the brain function of Manly's Brett Stewart.

While the fullback struggles to recall the hit, Crocker can clearly, and he could tell it hurt not just Stewart but the entire Manly side. The eyes had it.

"I just remember the feeling of looking around after it happened and we could see in Manly's eyes that that had hurt them," Crocker said. "Moments like that in big games do change things. I don't think you can go looking for them, especially the way Craig coaches us. I think they just happen … you've just got to wait and they come to you."

Again, that represents a change from his time at the Roosters.

"I guess that was where my football was a bit more erratic and I was looking for that big play, especially at times when it wasn't needed," he said. "Craig's coaching has definitely helped me to get that out of my game and I know that I've got a job to do and if I don't do it I get a big rocket."

Remarkably, Sunday's grand final will be Crocker's sixth, highlighting how invaluable he is to any side he plays in.

"A lot of blokes go through their whole careers and don't get the opportunity and I've been lucky enough to be part of two teams where we've gone three in a row," he said. "I've had a wonderful career in that regard and I can't leave with any bad memories."

But there will be inevitable disappointment should history repeat and the Storm go one-for-three - as Crocker did at the Roosters. He won his first with them in 2002, but then lost the next two. At Melbourne, he missed the side's 2006 defeat at the hands of Brisbane, but will still feel a sense of frustration if he leaves a side which had an opportunity to be considered great, but did not follow through.

"It is an amazing achievement to get there, but it was disappointing [at the Roosters]," he said. "To look back, it is a little bit, not sad, but frustrating in the fact that it could have been a three-peat, but we get one. It is a massive difference but that's the way football is.

"You look at teams like Brisbane and Canberra of the late '80s and '90s - they're teams that'll be remembered forever as the great teams of that era.

"To be placed among that would be something special, and something that, down the track, I guess you'd look back on and be very proud."