“Shaq left the game in a moonboot and on crutches, which is never a good thing. It’s pretty devastating for him because he had a great preseason, and we’ve all heard a little bit about his history recently and where he came from. He is a striker with great footwork and skill who will now be sorely missed.”
Charging
Souths will look to bounce back against Manly in a Saturday night return to the Allianz Stadium that will pit Latrell Mitchell against No. 1 rival Tom Trbojevic for the first time in five years.
Both men have spent time working with reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles and, despite being full-backs for their clubs, are likely to be the starting centers for the NSW Origin team.
Souths also go toe-to-toe with former head coach Anthony Seibold, who enjoyed a golden start at the Northern Beaches and did a lot for Cook in his one season in charge of Souths.
“’Seibs’ believed in me and gave me a lot of confidence, I was in and out of first grade, but he put me there, said, ‘the job is yours’ and let him do it,” Cook said. “That belief definitely helped me.
“As for ‘Trell’ and Turbo, they’re both very different full-backs, but hopefully we can put Trell in the right positions and he can do his thing.”
Accor Stadium hosted Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles over the summer before a new playing surface, grown in western Sydney, was installed earlier this month.
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