The South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons have confirmed the switch of former NSW Blues dummy half Damien Cook at the end of the 2024 NRL season.
Cook has been linked with a move away from the Rabbitohs in recent weeks, and while there was interest from both the Dragons and Sydney Roosters, as well as what was believed to be other clubs in both Australia and England, it has now been confirmed he will make the switch to the Red V.
The Dragons have locked Cook in until at least the end of the 2026 season, with the now veteran dummy half to finish his career in the same spot he started it, with Cook debuting the first two games of his career with the club in 2013 after being a Helensburgh Tigers junior.
The 32-year-old has since one on to have a successful 205-game career with the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs, with his return to the Dragons next year to see him play a one-two punch with Jacob Liddle.
Shane Flanagan said Cook's signing was 'wonderful'.
โIt's wonderful to have a player of Damien's calibre return to our club,โ Flanagan said in a statement confirming the news.
โHis qualities as a footballer and person are top class and he adds plenty of experience and strike to our roster over the coming seasons.โ
Cook, who has played 17 Origins for NSW and 4 Tests for Australia during his time with the Rabbitohs, will leave the number nine duties next year to Peter Mamouzelos.
Rabbitohs' head of football Mark Ellison said it was the right thing to do for the club to release the dummy half.
"Cooky' has been one of our top performers for a long time and he has worked extremely hard to grow into an international-class player at our Club," Ellison said.
โHe was contracted for one more year at our Club but he has the opportunity to extend his career at another Club, and we thought it was the right thing to do to allow him to take up that offer.
โWe will all be working hard to send Cooky out on the right note at our Club this year and I'm sure our Members and everyone connected to our Club will get right behind him and his teammates as we work towards a positive end to the year over the next few months.
โCooky, his wife Courtney and his children Willow and Jagger will always be Rabbitohs, and we look forward to continuing our work with him for the rest of this season.โ
Cook will link up with the Dragons at the start of pre-season training in November.
