BY DAN

Reports emerged from the Canberra Times that Adam Cook has put pen to paper to stay with the Raiders. The long-rumoured deal promotes Cook to the top 30 and keeps him in town for the next two seasons.

This is obviously a great moment for Cook. After bouncing around the Raiders and Cowboys systems over the last few years, this will be his first proper NRL deal. It will ensure him job security, and further opportunities to prove that the improvements made in the Q Cup, demonstrated for the Milk this year, are permanent. It’s also validation of what he can offer – game management, good creativity, and a boot so thick it reminds your Dad of when he met your Mum. He’s a good enough defender (provided he’s get some big man support). He’s also proven a capable fill-in game manager if Jamal Fogarty is out, and projects as the holder of the Sam Williams/Matt Frawley memorial role of ‘Ricky Stuart’s binkie’.

And he’s still young. Which is important to remember in that context. He may be Stuart’s emotional support half, but he’s only 23, and may be much more. We shouldn’t cap him at his current level. Lord knows the improvement he’s made in the last 18 months has been impressive enough. Another similar leap makes it more interesting. NSW Cup Coach Brock Sheppard noted that Cook racked up numbers in the early goings for NSW Cup, but actually that his improvement happened in the back half of the season. Stuart will love this, because he’s always loved competition for positions, be it starting half, first backup half, or even NSW Cup roles.

And that’s where this becomes murkier for the Milk. Promises and plans have been made with Ethan Sanders, Ethan Strange, and Jamal Fogarty, et al. Is Cook backing them up or is he in the mix? Is he just a backup 7 or do the club see him having a role playing off Fogarty? If he’s a backup half then how does that fit with Ethan Sanders, who just came from Parramatta on the promise that there’s a quicker path to first grade as Jamal Fogarty moves into his 30s. Either way, given that at the start of the season Cook will likely be playing alongside Sanders, Cook’s tendency to be ball-dominant may hamper the new guys development. We’ve seen Stick’s man management techniques aren’t exactly modern. The idea that he’s effectively communicating with all parties what they need to do, and where they fit, is one that we’ll have to hope is occurring rather than expect.

If Cook is in the mix to play six also then it worries me further. Last season Cook was brought in instead of Ethan Strange, a decision that was either made because Strange was exhausted from his first season in NRL, or was just bad. As we described it at the time, Cook and Fogarty’s skills were duplicated, and one spent the other watching the other go to work like a kid handing Dad a spanner and standing there because he’s “helping”. It not only hampered Strange’s development, but also the team’s, and somehow Fogarty’s. Operation Ajax had less flow on effects.

At one point the balance of the top 30 would have also raised eyebrows. If Kaeo Weekes is projected as a six then it would mean the Raiders have five halves on the roster. But his performance at one towards the end of the year would suggest he’s a fullback first and a backup six should Strange get injured. If that means Sanders and Cook are playing Cup footy together while Weekes/Strange/Fogarty/other are the first grade spine then it makes a degree of sense.

But the opportunity cost of carrying an extra half means the Raiders only have one free spot in their top 30. That means they need to decide between getting an external hooker in, or promoting Owen Pattie. I suspect given Pattie’s age and development he can stay on the supplemental list for another year, and come into the top 30 when Danny Levi leaves. And having five halves is better than four hookers (though Stick may see that as a challenge and ‘Aidan Sezer’ Jamal Fogarty). But the Raiders still have other areas – outside backs in particular – that need meeting.

At the base of it though is a wait and see. This is a bet on what Cook has built with the Raiders, and before in Q Cup. If his improvement continues apace then perhaps our concerns about his fit will be moot. You can never have too many good players, and having halves depth always is useful. Cook has proven himself worthy of the risk. Welcome to permanency.

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