‘If I had my time over again’: Cook reveals the one regret of his career

Imagine if we were never treated to Damien Cook.

The 28-year-old is one of the premier No.9s of the competition but there was a stage in his rugby league journey where it could have been over before it started.

Cook has been a household name since he overtook Robbie Farah as South Sydney’s first choice hooker in 2017.

He became a star the following year when he made his New South Wales and Kangaroos debut.

But before that he was a fringe first-grader, albeit very talented, looking for a club to put their faith in him.

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He started at the Panthers, switched to Illawarra before signing with the Dragons, hopped to the Bulldogs and finally landed with the Rabbitohs.

With 102 NRL games under his belt and signed with South Sydney until the end of 2023, Cook is finally cemented in the game. But the Illawarra junior has one regret about his career.

As an aspiring NRL star, a young Cook took up an opportunity with the Panthers and in hindsight says if he took better advantage of that start he could have fast-tracked his career.

“I do believe it was a better opportunity to go to Penrith for the under 20s. Mitch Rein and Cameron King were both at the Dragons who were playing really well so I went out there for an opportunity,” Cook told Foxsports.com.au.

“Not being a junior you really had to prove a point and play your best footy. I probably didn’t take advantage of that situation so it almost cut the career short there.”

The Panthers didn’t offer Cook a contract after his time in the under 20s was up and no other club was knocking on his door either.

He had no choice but to head back home with broken dreams.

Until Paul McGregor — who was coaching NSW Cup side Illawarra Cutters — threw him a lifeline.

“I didn’t get picked for reserve grade so I came back to Helensburgh,” Cook said.

“But I was lucky enough that Illawarra Cutters were coming into the (NSW Cup) competition.

“That was when Paul McGregor was coaching and Shane Millard was assistant. They gave me a good opportunity to start a train and trial with those guys and I ended up playing the whole season with them.”

After a solid season for the Cutters, Cook signed a one-year deal with the Dragons and went on to make his NRL debut in Round six of the 2013 season, then bagged another game later in the year.

At 21-years old, he was pretty on par with other future NRL players in his age group. The next two years was when he should have became a regular first-grader though and instead he played just seven NRL games for the Bulldogs.

Cook joined Canterbury on a two-year deal, biding his time while serving as a solid back up to Michael Ennis.

Then as Ennis departed the club it was the closest Cook had been to finally securing a first grade No.9 jersey. But the Bulldogs then signed Michael Lichaa and Cook was back where had been for the previous two years — a back up option.

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“I was against competition coming right through,” Cook said.

“When I was at the Bulldogs, Mick Ennis was there and I definitely knew I wasn’t trying to replace him, I was there to learn off him.

“When he left, I thought I was ready to go then Michael Lichaa came in and played really good footy.”

Now as the Kangaroos and New South Wales rake, Cook admits he could have fast-tracked his career if he had done things differently at Penrith.

“I think I could have maybe started (my NRL career) earlier. There was one point where I could have taken advantage of it,” Cook said.

“I think it was (immaturity).

“I moved straight out of home for the first time at 18 and I guess I was just learning everything at once.

“I probably didn’t realise at the time how important those years could have been.

“We didn’t have the two best years as a team, I played some good footy but if I had my time over again I would have made the most of that situation.

“That’s just to say I may have, possibly started my NRL career earlier. That’s probably the one thing I look back on where I could have been better.”

Fast forward to 2020 — seven years after he made his debut — Cook knows exactly how to make the most of his situations.

As he takes the field tonight for an epic clash with the Roosters, expect to see a refreshed and an even more dangerous version of the Bunnies’ No.9 after using the lockdown period to get both his body and mind into peak condition.

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“I’ve taken advantage of the situation that we’ve had,” he said.

“The last couple of years have been quite full on for myself, the last couple of pre-seasons I haven’t been able to have a full pre-season and get my body the way I wanted it to be.

“So having this extra time off, I was able to get a bit of extra pre-season training under my belt.

“I had a bit of a mental break as well, my mind is feeling refreshed because straight after last season I had my daughter so that was a hectic time and I didn’t get much of an off-season as much as I enjoyed it.”

Like the entire rugby league community, Cook has been itching for the season to restart. Without any footy to report on, the interest in players’ personal lives has increased tenfold. Clubs have felt the sting, but none more than South Sydney who have been the centre of media attention throughout lockdown.

Latrell Mitchell was busted social distancing rules, James Roberts admitted himself to a rehab facility to deal with some person issues and a blackmail situation brought to light a video of Cody Walker kicking a man in the chest.

Despite the off-field drama, Cook says the playing group are as focused as ever.

He admits that in previous years off-field incidents would have rattled the squad but says the short runway to the season relaunch has helped keep his teammates focused.

“It really hasn’t bothered us. In the past, a few years ago if things happened it might have caused a distraction but this year it’s definitely a strong group that’s stuck together.

“I’m pretty proud of all the boys and am especially happy with how the club has handled everything.

“Obviously we’ve had a couple of situations with Cody, Latrell and Jimmy and I think all of the individuals have dealt with it the right way, the club has done the right thing and the players really haven’t let it distract them at all.

“We’ve rallied around those boys and helped them however we can and we’ve gotten on with training.

“I think the best thing is having that short window so knowing we’ve only got a short time to get things right and train hard.”

Heading into the 2020 season, Mitchell was the biggest talking point.

He sensationally left the defending premiers for their arch rivals and if that wasn’t enough pressure, he threw in a positional switch too.