The truth behind Huddersfield Giants' Damien Cook transfer move

Huddersfield Giants have been linked with a move for star NRL hooker Damien Cook - but fans hoping to see the Australia international arrive at the John Smith's Stadium are set to be disappointed.

On Thursday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Giants were hoping to entice the 32-year-old to Super League, with his time at South Sydney Rabbitohs set to come to an end. Cook, a friend of incoming forward Tom Burgess, has neem told he will not be offered a deal beyond his existing one at Souths, which expires next year.

However, Cook will not be joining the Giants. He will instead head to St George Illawarra Dragons, with Huddersfield's exploration ending before it had truly started.

Rugby League Live can reveal that there was an approach made to Cook and his representatives, and some tentative discussions did take place. However, it became apparent to the Giants pretty quickly that the hooker did not have interest in pursuing a move to Huddersfield or indeed Super League, which saw them step away from negotiations at an early stage.

This was elaborated on further by head coach Ian Watson, who confirmed talks with Cook had taken place.

"He was a player we were interested in but I don't think he's got an appetite to come to Super Legaue right now," he said. "Apparently big fees were being thrown about, everyone always thinks you have loads of money. It's chaos. Would we have been interested? Of course, who wouldn't have been. But that's it, it's not happening, there's not point going over and talking about it."

It would have been an eye-catching pick-up for Huddersfield, with Cook one of the NRL's top hookers for several years. He has made over 200 NRL appearances, represented New South Wales 17 times and Australia on four occasions. But the Giants have now moved on to other potential targets, with Watson confirming talks were taking place.

"They're always ongoing," he said. "You've kind of got to have that conveyor belt and it's got to keep working but as a coach, you want to focus on what you're doing right here, right now, and not be overly worried by that. But you know that you're going to fall behind somewhere if you're not.

"Are we looking, are we speaking? Yes, we are. We're talking to agents both in the UK and Australia. What we want to do is make sure that any players we bring in make us better as a team. We've lost players over the last couple of years so you're always kind of starting again. We want some continuity and consistency. We're on with the recruitment side but worrying more about the here and now."