South Sydney coach Michael Maguire has given a strong indication he could use big-name signing Robbie Farah at lock alongside Damien Cook this NRL season.
Both hookers starred in individual stints during the Rabbitohs’ 32-14 Charity Shield win over St George-Illawarra on Sunday.
However it was a late 15-minute cameo alongside each other – with Farah at lock – that showed how Maguire could combine the duo.
“There’s obviously opportunities at the back end of halves when your team puts a lot of pressure on opposition,” Maguire said.
“The game now is getting closer and closer with the arm wrestle. So (the hooker) comes up, with those sorts of players coming on and being able to pull apart the middle of the field.”
Farah scored his first try in Rabbitohs colours with a solo effort from close range early in the match and also kicked astutely out of dummy half before coming off at halftime.
Cook responded with his own moment of brilliance in the 55th minute, making a half-break and then producing a magical try assist with the outside of his boot for his right winger.
“He’s good, Cookie. He’s a talent. That’s obviously why I wanted to keep him. He’s a very talented kid and he can play a number of positions for us as well. So can Robbie,” Maguire said.
“Both of the boys contributed quite a lot to that performance. It’s a great place to be, obviously Robbie’s got experience and he’s been doing it for a long time.
“But Cookie’s growing every single day, every single time at training and obviously out there today he performed really well. Some good decisions moving forward.”
Maguire admitted his starter would also depend on the upcoming opposition.
“Probably game by game at the moment. At the end of the day, I think it’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for all of us. They’re very open those two,” he said.
“We’ve had great discussions about how we want to do it. It’s just a matter of time with how it works moving forward.”
The Rabbitohs open their season against Farah’s old club Wests Tigers on March 3.
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
There is no question about it. Both Cook and Farah will be in the 17. There would be more questions asked if one was missing than if both were included. All off season I have pushed Cook's case for being the starting hooker but after the Charity Shield I can see how both Farah and Cook can both play together in tandem over 60 plus mins. Face it, Cook is a huge talent which would be wasted sitting on the bench for most of the game waiting for a 20 - 30 min cameo as an impact player off the bench. For mine Farah should start the first 20 - 25 mins and help get Souths forwards focused on the grind and doing the hard yards through the middle with Cook brought on to exploit tired forwards with 10 - 15 mins left in the half. Cook and Farah could then share the dummy half role with Farah moving to lock and playing as a lose forward following the ball and playing through the ruck in tandem with Cook. Each could then capitalise off the others breaks and feed the ball on to Reynolds, Walker and Inglis, or Sam Burgess following on the edge of the ruck. Souths should focus their running in behind the ruck angled back in behind the markers to work them and the A defenders around the play the ball over. On the back of this there will be plenty of opportunities for Cook and Farah to run through the weakened and confused defence in the middle and link up with supports and then move the ball out wide. If there is an injury then to one of the halves Cook can slip into the halves and Farah can stay at hooker. Sutton can also cover the halves but this just adds flexibility and options for Madge to adjust to last minute surprises. For mine though, it is key for Souths to keep Cody Walker in the halves. Although he does an admirable job filling in for Inglis at FB he belongs in the halves, it's as simple as that. He reminds me of Cliff Lyons in his fluency and unpredictability and how he slouches forward when he runs and holds the ball in both hands. Like Lyons, Walker has a gift of making something happen out of nothing and has a sudden turn of speed that can take defences by surprise. Alex Johnson (AJ) or Braidon Burns should cover FB in case Inglis is unavailable or needs to be suddenly moved to the centres because of problems with his knees. The bottom line is Farah and Cook look set for a long season sharing dummy half and playing in the 17 each week for the Rabbitohs.
Adrien
Guest
It amazes me to see how good is Cook and how good he has been over the last 2-3years. But this guy is inlucky. He should have been first pick hooker at a club for years now. However he is continually stuck behind players who are not better than him (Lichaa at the dogs and now Farah). at 26 now time is running fast and this pure talen has not been able to establish himself as a number 1 hooker. He could play origin but he will rotate with Farah for a year or two...