THE YEAR THAT WAS | Damien Cook
Damien Cook did not rest on his laurels after his breakout season in 2018.
The speed, agility and excitement of 2018 was replicated by Cook this year, but he added another few dimensions to his game under Wayne Bennett by developing a kicking game and setting up his teammates for more tries in season 2019.
He set up a massive 18 tries this year compared to eight in 2019, while forcing eight dropouts this year compared to just two last season. The latter is even more impressive given his club teammate Adam Reynolds is the best short-kicker in the competition and takes the bulk of the kicking.
Season Highlight
Round 23 v Broncos - 22-10 W
Damien Cook’s season was full of highlights, making it difficult to pick one, and his incredible performance against the North Queensland Cowboys where he set up three tries to Sam Burgess, Cameron Murray and Kyle Turner in just a 12-minute period is incredibly unlucky to miss out.
However, it is impossible to go past his game winning, season altering performance against the Brisbane Broncos in Round 23.
In the 24th minute, Cook darted out of dummy half 50 metres out from the try-line, beat the markers and created space for John Sutton, who offloaded to Cody Walker which led to a stunning long range try to Dane Gagai.
He was at it again on the hour mark when once again he darted out from dummy half from inside his own half, made a line-break and gave the ball to Adam Reynolds who kicked for Walker to score arguably the Rabbitohs’ try of the year.
Three minutes later, he supported Dane Gagai who made a superb run down the left side and scored a long-range try for himself after already setting up two in the game.
Still, his play of the game was to come.
The Rabbitohs were up by two points with just over a minute on the clock and the Broncos were on the attack. Darius Boyd turned it inside to Corey Oates who charged through a hole and looked certain to not only score but win the game for Brisbane.
Damien Cook threw himself at Oates and made a strong contact around his legs, pulling him down just centimetres before the try-line. It was the tackle that saved the Rabbitohs season as they were on a losing run and were in danger of falling out of the top four.
Representative Highlight
State of Origin Game III – 26-20 W
Alike his season in the red-and-green, Damien Cook had plenty of highlights playing for NSW and Australia.
He was judged best on ground for a losing NSW-side in State of Origin Game I and blew New Zealand off the park with a man-of-the-match performance playing for the Australian Kangaroos.
However, Cook’s representative highlight is undoubtedly his try in the State of Origin Game decide.
In a decider where the score at half-time was 8-all, both teams were fighting hard for points and the Blues had their tails up when James Tedesco extended their lead to 14-8. NSW were looking to score next for a small buffer and equally didn’t want to concede a try to lock the scores back up.
Enter Damien Cook.
David Klemmer made a good run and Cook picked the ball up 42 metres out from the line. He beat the marker and burned Josh Papalii on the inside to break away, showed too much speed for Ethan Lowe then completely turned Cameron Munster inside-out to score a try that will be shown on State of Origin highlight reels for decades.
NSW went on to win the game and the series 26-20 after James Tedesco’s miracle try on the stroke of full time.
Off-Field Highlight
Baby Cook
Despite the superb on-field feats from Cook this year, his favourite certainly game off the field.
After getting married last year, Damien and Courtney Cook welcomed their first child into the world on October 26.
Baby daughter Willow Joy Cook was born the day after the Australian hooker was man-of-the-match against New Zealand and performed a ‘baby cradle’ celebration when he scored his try.