There has been an update on the status of South Sydney Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook who it was confirmed last week had been attracting interest from Huddersfield Giants.
Those reports suggested that Ian Watson’s side faced a fight with St George Illawarra Dragons to sign Cook with The Sydney Morning Herald first expressing that the Giants wanted to make a play for the 32-year-old.
The Herald stated: “The opportunity for Cook to move on presented itself a few weeks ago when Super League club Huddersfield made direct inquiries with South Sydney officials in the hope they could lure the hooker to England on a two-year deal.”
Huddersfield Giants have already poached talent from South Sydney for the 2025 season with Tom Burgess set to arrive in England in a massive coup for the competition. Whether he’ll be joined by Bunnies teammate Damien Cook is another question though with the latest update potentially suggesting not.
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Where will Damien Cook be playing in 2025?
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One of the most complicated issues with the Damien Cook transfer saga is that he is actually contracted with Souths until the end of 2025 and his deal is worth a reported £330,000 which is a significant fee.
NRL chasers St George would require Souths to subsidise some of that wage but an update has now come in the form of Cook himself with the hooker giving an interview to Channel Nine’s Danny Weidler.
Cook explained: “(It’s) pretty nice they’re (the Dragons) looking to put an offer in.
“Obviously I haven’t spoken to my manager. But (it’s) good to see they think I’ve still got plenty of footy (left). I’ve still got another year to go here and I love this club, they’ve been great to me.
“They’ve been everything. It’s where I’ve started a family, bought a house. All those big moments have been while I’m at this club. I’ve made no decision whatsoever.”
Despite that claim that he’d made no decision, it could be the case that a decision is made for Damien Cook with conflicting reports emerging about whether Souths want to keep him or not.
Initially, Fox Sports reported that the club wouldn’t prevent him from leaving but Weidler has now said that is “absolute rubbish” with Souths set to honour his contract and keep him for 2025. Moreover, The Daily Telegraph are reporting that Sydney Roosters are interested in signing Cook making the competition for the Giants to sign him even more difficult.
That would be a huge blow for Huddersfield Giants and render their attempted move for him fruitless leaving their hooking options as just Adam Milner and youngster Thomas Deakin.
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