South Sydney Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook says the team is using last year’s grand final heartbreak as a motivator in this year’s finals campaign, keeping them calm and reminding them of just how enormous and challenging a task it is to win an NRL premiership.
Though he’s also involved in a duel with Penrith Panthers No.9 Apisai Koroisau for the dummy-half role in Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos squad, Cook says a green and gold jumper is the furthest thing from his mind as the Rabbitohs prepare to take on the Panthers once again.
“We’ve got to use that (losing) experience in the past to motivate us going forward,” Cook told NRL.com.
“After the (Cronulla) game we weren’t jumping around and carrying on about how excited we are because the job isn’t done.
“I think we understand what it takes to win a grand final now, as well as understanding what it feels like to win and lose a preliminary final.”
Though the Rabbitohs have become finals regulars after making the preliminary finals for the past five years, they’ve only made the grand final once. The Panthers beat them in last year’s decider, as well as the 2020 preliminary final.
But Cook knows the Rabbitohs have what it takes to upset the overwhelming title favourites - especially after having done so in the 2021 qualifying final.
“Everyone is beatable, but with a side like Penrith – or the Storm in the past – you have to play your best footy to beat them,” Cook said.
“That’s what we did in (the qualifying final) last year. We were very good coming out of yardage and very disciplined not to give them easy opportunities to come out of our end.
“Penrith are a quality side, they’re obviously the best side of the last few years and to beat them we have got to be better than we were against the Sharks.”
Though Cook is the incumbent Kangaroos hooker, there are question marks over his role in Mal Meninga’s squad after a quiet season by his own lofty standards, the consistency of Koroisau and the break-out season of Cowboys dummy-half Reece Robson.
“Everyone wants to play in the World Cup, everyone wants to play representative footy. It’s the greatest honour in our game to wear that green and gold jersey, but that’s for after the season is done.”
