Damien Cook admits he has hard feelings over his Dragons exit after the club backflipped on an extension offer for 2027 after Shane Flanagan’s sacking as coach.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Cook was filthy at being shown the door by the Dragons weeks after he looked set to extend his stay at the club another season.
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Cook was “days away” from securing a one-year extension with the Dragons, before the club paused all contract negotiations amid the club’s winless start to the season.
Then coach Shane Flanagan was sacked and Cook realised he wasn’t in the club’s long-term plans after interim boss Dean Young took over with a youth mantra.
The 34-year-old has since signed a two year deal with the Castleford Tigers in the Super League, who are coached by former Dragons assistant and interim boss Ryan Carr.
Ahead of Cook’s 250th NRL game against the Panthers in Magic Round, Cook admitted he had hard feelings about the way things panned out.
“Definitely in a way, because it obviously involved me,” Cook told the Herald.
“When you feel like you give so much to them, when those sorts of things happen, it can hurt a bit.
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Damien Cook was filthy at the club over their contract backflip.Source: Getty Images
“I definitely respected the business side of the thing, but obviously because I was involved in it, emotionally invested in it, there were definitely a tough couple of weeks where I was filthy at the decision.
“I obviously wanted to stay – you’d love to stay here. But the decision’s been made now and I’m actually really excited about it. I’m happy that the future’s been sorted and I can really rip in and do whatever I can to make sure this club finishes off the season well.”
Despite having to end his NRL career at the end of the season, Cook explained the club were keen to invest in youth and is excited for a new adventure with his family in England.
“Recruitment made it clear that they’re on the lookout for a couple of younger hookers,” Cook said.
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“We asked a few times and sort of got the same response, so I had to let my manager know that we were going to have to look elsewhere and try and find something. Then next thing you know, Ryan Carr reached out.
“I just saw it as a really good opportunity to change it up, take the family over there and go on a bit of an adventure. Carry’s sold ‘Cas Vegas’ [a nickname for Castleford] to me.
“The best thing is that I’ve made a decision now, and I get to really enjoy this last year with the Dragons.”
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Despite the winless start to his final season in the NRL, Cook is proud to captain the Dragons and hopes he can play a role in setting up a bright future for the club.
“It might seem funny to hear, but being the co-captain of these boys is definitely one of the highlights of my career,” Cook said.
“I know [with] the core group of guys they’ve got for the future here … this club will keep heading in the right direction.
“This is just the shit that we’ve got to go through at the moment.”