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Where To Put Damien Cook

themacemaceman

themacemaceman

Juniors
Messages
1,106
I'm still not convinced by Cook.
I'm not sure he's a week to week first grade Hooker.
I think he's destined to be a utility player he's whole career.
He certainly had an X factor and I hope he proves me wrong.
I actually think Cook himself is comfortable with that. Why would he sign with us when he could supposedly had a starting spot at the premiers for more cash?
 
Rabbits20

Rabbits20

Immortal
Messages
41,664
themacemaceman said:
I'm still not convinced by Cook.
I'm not sure he's a week to week first grade Hooker.
I think he's destined to be a utility player he's whole career.
He certainly had an X factor and I hope he proves me wrong.
I actually think Cook himself is comfortable with that. Why would he sign with us when he could supposedly had a starting spot at the premiers for more cash?
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As he obviously loves Souths and now calls it home!!!!!

Madge could have also told him he's a strong chance as the long term option too and that he will learn a lot with Robbie.
 
doyen

doyen

Bench
Messages
3,612
Rabbits20 said:
As he obviously loves Souths and now calls it home!!!!!

Madge could have also told him he's a strong chance as the long term option too and that he will learn a lot with Robbie.
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What do we do with COOK---my first thought was to set him in a block of cement & drop him in the ocean!!!

But,HEY---let's see how Farah & Cook work together in tandem for the first few matches!! If it functions well,than great-------!!
 
alien

alien

Referee
Messages
20,279
AJB1102 said:
Robbie looks good and no doubt Robbie wants to be Souths' hooker. Not Souths' part-time hooker. Too big of an ego mate he wants 80min every week and will get it.
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Did anyone see Farah's face when he was on the bench??? He didn't look happy! Lol.
 
DiegoNT

DiegoNT

First Grade
Messages
9,378
themacemaceman said:
I'm still not convinced by Cook.
I'm not sure he's a week to week first grade Hooker.
I think he's destined to be a utility player he's whole career.
He certainly had an X factor and I hope he proves me wrong.
I actually think Cook himself is comfortable with that. Why would he sign with us when he could supposedly had a starting spot at the premiers for more cash?
Click to expand...

I definitely think that's the case. Every good player wants to start and play Every minute he can. No good player wants to be second fiddle for long, everyone wants to be the main man. The whole 'he'll take over when Robbie's gone' is ridiculous. No player with ambitions of being the main man in 1st grade is going to wait 2 years for his chance. 2 years is a long time in the nrl. 2 years ago (going into 2015) Luke Keary was talked up as an option for the blues and a key player for Souths future, AJ was talked up as the best young fullback prospect in the game, and many thought that he would take over from GI sometime in 15 or 16. Tyrrell was in the maroons emerging origin squad and some like sterlo thought he was a bitter for that years origin. at the time Jack bird and Holmes were unknown rookies, people laughed at sharks for letting go of a talented youngster in lichaa for an over the hill Ennis. And so on and so forth.
To think that a 25 year old cook, who has always been a lower grader his whole career is willing to wait and learn behind Farah for 2 years and finally become the main man a few months before his 28th birthday is a bit far fetched. Cook seems comfortable as 2nd string, Souths have given him financial security long term and he hasn't got the guts to gamble that on being number 1 at the sharks
 
Souths Till I Die

Souths Till I Die

First Grade
Messages
5,957
DiegoNT said:
I definitely think that's the case. Every good player wants to start and play Every minute he can. No good player wants to be second fiddle for long, everyone wants to be the main man. The whole 'he'll take over when Robbie's gone' is ridiculous. No player with ambitions of being the main man in 1st grade is going to wait 2 years for his chance. 2 years is a long time in the nrl. 2 years ago (going into 2015) Luke Keary was talked up as an option for the blues and a key player for Souths future, AJ was talked up as the best young fullback prospect in the game, and many thought that he would take over from GI sometime in 15 or 16. Tyrrell was in the maroons emerging origin squad and some like sterlo thought he was a bitter for that years origin. at the time Jack bird and Holmes were unknown rookies, people laughed at sharks for letting go of a talented youngster in lichaa for an over the hill Ennis. And so on and so forth.
To think that a 25 year old cook, who has always been a lower grader his whole career is willing to wait and learn behind Farah for 2 years and finally become the main man a few months before his 28th birthday is a bit far fetched. Cook seems comfortable as 2nd string, Souths have given him financial security long term and he hasn't got the guts to gamble that on being number 1 at the sharks
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Cook would easily be first grade hooker at the Sharks. Mortimer, Brailey and cherrington are fringe first grade hookers. Brailey however has more potential than the rest but he is only a rookie. Is it really that hard to believe that cook probably wants to stay at Souths because he believes we have a solid side to build on? unlike halfway through last year where we didn't even have a forward pack. Being a second string hooker to Robbie Farah (the NSW hooker) could help him make advancements in his playstyle. At the end of the day cook will become a better player playing at Souths rather than at Sharks and who cares what age you become a main hooker at? Unfortunately for the Sharks their squad is ageing and they've got a collapsed spine they could struggle to make the 8. I don't think a Cronulla trip sounds desirable at all considering he probably as a home and family at Redfern.
 
DiegoNT

DiegoNT

First Grade
Messages
9,378
Souths Till I Die said:
Cook would easily be first grade hooker at the Sharks. Mortimer, Brailey and cherrington are fringe first grade hookers. Brailey however has more potential than the rest but he is only a rookie. Is it really that hard to believe that cook probably wants to stay at Souths because he believes we have a solid side to build on? unlike halfway through last year where we didn't even have a forward pack. Being a second string hooker to Robbie Farah (the NSW hooker) could help him make advancements in his playstyle. At the end of the day cook will become a better player playing at Souths rather than at Sharks and who cares what age you become a main hooker at? Unfortunately for the Sharks their squad is ageing and they've got a collapsed spine they could struggle to make the 8. I don't think a Cronulla trip sounds desirable at all considering he probably as a home and family at Redfern.
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He would easily walk into the sharks side at the moment. Of course the sharks side would be desirable, they are the current premiers, and at the time the only change from their premiership side was hooker, so he'd literally just slide right in. They have a few older guys, but they also have a heap of younger guys like bird, Holmes, Graham, fifita, Townsend, bukuya feki etc and both halves have plenty of years ahead of them. The only problem was sharks only offered 1 year. So if cook got to the end of next year and still hadn't proved he could be a long term 1st grade hooker he would have been screwed. Alternatively if he would have starred the whole year he would have had a huge pay increase. He took the safer option to stay as a 2nd string hooker and still be guaranteed money in years 2 and 3. Like maceman said, he seems content at where he's at, while most players who were serious would be going for a guaranteed first grade spot at the premiers.
 
Souths Till I Die

Souths Till I Die

First Grade
Messages
5,957
DiegoNT said:
He would easily walk into the sharks side at the moment. Of course the sharks side would be desirable, they are the current premiers, and at the time the only change from their premiership side was hooker, so he'd literally just slide right in. They have a few older guys, but they also have a heap of younger guys like bird, Holmes, Graham, fifita, Townsend, bukuya feki etc and both halves have plenty of years ahead of them. The only problem was sharks only offered 1 year. So if cook got to the end of next year and still hadn't proved he could be a long term 1st grade hooker he would have been screwed. Alternatively if he would have starred the whole year he would have had a huge pay increase. He took the safer option to stay as a 2nd string hooker and still be guaranteed money in years 2 and 3. Like maceman said, he seems content at where he's at, while most players who were serious would be going for a guaranteed first grade spot at the premiers.
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No certainty ben barba is coming back either so they have no specialist fullback. Townsend is really not that great without Maloney and they're all ageing. Fifita doesn't want to stay in rugby league. Bird wants to play a different position besides centre. The Sharks team won't stay together they're already considerably weaker than they were in 2016. Ennis and barba were very influential in their premiership run. I don't really see how they're desirable at all tbh they're a team on the slide only offering a 1 year contract. Of course it makes more sense to stay at Souths where he already has family. I doubt it was just to do with the fact that he had a 1 year deal at one place rather than the other I'm pretty sure the Sharks offered a deal to 2019 as well.
 
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