Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues hooker Damien Cook has been working on his kicking game under South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett to try and ease some of the pressure on halves Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker during the 2019 NRL season.
Souths kick off their season against arch rivals the Sydney Roosters at the SCG on Friday 15 March and will be looking to go one better under Bennett this season.
The Rabbitohs made it all the way to the preliminary final under former coach Anthony Seibold last season before their disappointing exit against the Roosters who went on to take out the Grand Final against Melbourne Storm.
Cook said he had developed a kicking game as a junior and coming through the lower grades but he had shelved it at Redfern because Reynolds was so dominant at it.
“In the pre-season I’ve been working on building my confidence with the kicking so I can help Reynolds and Cody Walker out in the game where possible,” Cook told Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast program.
“Adam Reynolds does a lot of our kicking and if we can take some of the pressure off him at certain times in the game I’ll try my best to do that and it will give confidence to the team that I can do that.
“It was probably a good thing with Reynolds not playing Charity Shield I was forced to kick so I got my confidence up there.
“I won’t go away from what I did last year, I’ll look for running opportunities but there’s games that aren’t going to go my way, and there might not be a quick play the ball or certain things.
“I’ve just got to make sure I’m giving good service to the halves, and making sure I’m putting my forwards in a good position to hopefully create some momentum.”
