Cook’s impact puts Farah on the sideline
SOUTH Sydney fans will be wondering how much they see of Robbie Farah this season after the 34-year-old hooker became new coach Anthony Seibold’s first selection casualty.
Farah will not feature in Souths’ season opener against the New Zealand Warriors on Saturday, with Seibold putting all his faith in Damien Cook, eight years Farah’s junior, to survive the 80 minutes at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
When Farah reported for day one of pre-season training after Lebanon’s World Cup campaign, Seibold immediately informed him Cook would get first crack at the No. 9 jersey in the trials.
Farah is off contract at the end of the season and will likely struggle to add to his 271 career games if Cook lives up to Seibold’s expectations.
The coach, a former assistant to Melbourne’s Craig Bellamy, also threw his support behind former Storm pair Mark Nicholls and Richie Kennar to make their club debuts on Saturday.
The hooker debate was an easy one for Seibold, who confirmed his call as he boarded a plane for Perth yesterday.
“Cooky has earned that No.9 position, I’ve said all along we’ll transition to one hooker. I’ve named ‘Faz’ in the 21-man squad but unless there is some unforeseen circumstances, Cooky will get his opportunity,” he said.
“He’s earned it. He made a real impact out of dummy-half in the trials. One thing we worked on during the pre-season was creating momentum, and off that back of that momentum, Cooky was able to poke his nose through there a few times and make some line breaks.
“He also had a good pre-season and is physically in great condition.”
Seibold said there were no plans to cut Farah loose and he remained a big part of the club’s plans. Canberra were one club linked to Farah earlier this week because of the knee injury to Josh Hodgson but Raiders officials have zero interest in him.
Seibold said the successful clubs last season all had depth in the key positions, something Farah provided.