Damien Cook responds to NRL axing as damning footage emerges of Rabbitohs hooker

Damien Cook admits he is "angry" and "frustrated" at being cut from the side by under-fire Souths coach Jason Demetriou. With the Bunnies sitting last on the table after a horror start to the 2024 season, the Rabbitohs coach swung the axe ahead of this weekend's clash with the Sharks.

On the back of a dismal showing last week, losing to the Warriors 34-4, Demetriou dropped Cook, Sean Keppie and Tallis Duncan, and the Rabbitohs hooker voiced his frustration with the decision on the Big Sports Breakfast program on 2KY. “Of course, I’m angry,” Cook said.

“I’m frustrated, angry, sad. I had all the emotions yesterday. I do want to be out there on the field giving my best for the team, to try and get us out of where we are.

“A couple of losses this year – not the best start to the season. I just want to be out there helping them and doing my part to get us out of here because all we can do is to keep working harder and harder and keep trust in what we’re doing to dig our way out of it. That’s probably why I’m probably a bit angry and frustrated; because I just want to be out there with them trying to help.”

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Damning footage that may have led to Damien Cook's axing

The Daily Telegraph's Brent Read believes Cook being dropped is an attempt to spark the team into action and hypothesised that a crucial missed tackle in a horror 10-minute period at the end of the first half last week resulted in the hooker being the big-name to make way.

Cook was brushed aside with ease by Charnza Nicoll Klokstad with just minutes to go in the first half. The Warriors fullback then raced away before drawing the Souths fullback and passing to Shaun Johnson to stroll over untouched. Before that miss, the Bunnies were still well and truly in the game at 12-4 but from there on it was one-way traffic.

"I’m surprised, but when you look back at the game on the weekend… that period before and after halftime, that’s when they lost that footy game,” Read said on NRL360. "Damien Cook missed a big tackle in that moment, and a couple of other guys - Sean Keppie and Tallis Duncan, they’re gone this week as well – they were on that field during that period.

"If you look at it from that standpoint, I can understand why he’s made the change. If you look at Cookie’s stats this year, he hasn’t been that potent with the ball either. I think he’s got one try assist and one try break this year."

While Paul Kent said Demetriou needed to shake things up and saw this as his last chance to do so. “They need a circuit breaker there at the club, there’s no doubt about that,” Kent said. "The fact that Latrell Mitchell’s not playing this week, that provided Jason Demetriou with the opportunity (to make major changes).

"(Dropping) Cook is a bit of a surprise. But again, they needed something to shake it up a little bit. I think good on the coach for trying to crack a few eggs to make the omelette."

Dean Ritchie says Jason Demetriou's loyalty has hurt him

As a whole Ritchie believes Demetriou has been too loyal to the current Souths playing group for too long. “There’s loyalty and then there’s blind loyalty,” Ritchie said.

"Has JD perhaps been blindly loyal for too long? And now he’s saying ‘My job’s about to go here. My arse is in a sling, so unless I start making some changes I’m out the door.’"

Reports are circling that Demetriou will be sacked regardless of whether the Rabbitohs beat the Sharks this weekend, with Souths winning just five of their last 20 games. The Bunnies will most likely bring in a caretaker coach for the remainder of 2024, before appointing a full-time coach for next year.

Bennett has emerged as the leading candidate, with the master coach a free agent in 2025. There have been calls for Burgess to work with Bennett as his assistant next year, before then taking over the head coaching role. However, Burgess may opt to remain with English side Warrington who currently sit second on the ladder.