Captain Cook’s PNG voyage sweet after ‘hell of a year’

There are a few reasons why Damien Cook is looking forward to his first trip to Papua New Guinea.

For the grateful Prime Minister’s XIII captain it comes after a “hell of a year” with South Sydney.

And it gives him an early look at a key future teammate as the hooker prepares for a move to St George Illawarra next year.

Cook will skipper the Australian representative side against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on Sunday, in the 33-year-old’s first visit to the league-mad nation that could have its own NRL team by 2028.

“This is a nice way to finish it, that’s for sure,” Cook said of the honour.

“It’s been a hell of a year to be honest; a lot of ups and downs.

“We went through some stuff at the start with the coach (Jason Demetriou) losing his job, but the good thing for him is he’s coaching PNG now. I always knew he was going to pick up another job sooner rather than later.

“I made a decision quite early to be going with the Dragons. The best thing for me to do is to enjoy the rest of my time in South Sydney, and the club and (coach) Benny Hornby definitely made sure I enjoyed myself.”

Cook said captaining the PM’s XIII was “a real honour, very special and part of my career that I’ll get to look back on one day”.

He said he had consulted former coach Wayne Bennett, who will return to South Sydney next season, before and after making his decision to leave.

“All positive chats,” he said. “It was out of his hands.”

In a neat twist, he’ll wear the green and gold with current Dragons hooker Jacob Liddle, one of the club’s best this season.

“Teamwork, not a battle,” Cook laughed when asked about how they’d jostle for minutes next season.

“We’ll make it work and we’ll be a good little combination there that hopefully can put the Dragons back up towards the top of the ladder where they belong.

“It’s been good to train alongside him and get to know him.

“It’s obviously going to make it a little bit easier when I walk in first day training at Dragons.

“(It can) feel like first day of school, so it’d be good to have met a couple of face before I get there.”