South Sydney hooker Damien Cook backs coach Jason Demetriou as Rabbitohs call on David Furner to fix leaky defence

Demoted Souths veteran Damien Cook said he believed underfire coach Jason Demteriou had been given a reprieve after the team’s gutsy effort despite losing last weekend.

Cook, who played his NSW Cup game in nearly a decade after being dropped by Demeteriou, said his coach had handled the pressure well and was focused on getting back in the first grade side.

“There was so much noise around last week,” Cook told Sky Sports Radio.

“It has been building a lot last week. The way JD has handled himself has been great too, you wouldn’t think anything of it.

“You wouldn’t notice all the stuff he was copping.”

“That result on the weekend, I’m not saying it was enough, but it’s great to see that the noise has dropped off and the media has dropped off a bit, and we can just focus on what we need to do. We know we’ve got the talent here and the team here to get the job done.”

“For JD, I’m happy.”

But Cook, who Demetriou controversially dropped in favour of rookie hooker Peter Mamouzelos for the Sharks clash, said he hadn’t yet spoken with the coach about his future in the side.

The Bunnies have a bye this weekend before playing Melbourne on Anzac Day.

“With the longer turnaround before our game, there was no need to talk footy the last couple of days,” Cook said.

“We’re just enjoying those couple of days off before we ramp it back up again, so I’ll probably have a chat to him (on Wednesday), get out there and train well and see where we’re at.”

The Nightly’s NRL columnist rugby league legend Mark Carroll blasted the Rabbitohs playing group on Monday for not giving enough on the field to save their coach’s job.

The Rabbitohs bye could not come at a better time after they were being ravaged by more injuries in the 34-22 loss to Croniulla which keeps them anchoered at the bottom of the NRL ladder. Tevita Tatola (broken foot) and Tyrone Munro (collarbone) were both hurt, while skipper Cameron Murray who went off after being concussed.

Cook said he hoped he would be back in the team to play the Storm..

“Hopefully I’ve done enough to try and push back into the first-grade squad too,” he said.

“The week, especially the start of the week, there was a obviously lot of tension about it – quite draining by the time I got to game day, just how the week played out.”

To help turn the tide for the club Demeteriou has called in experienced David Furner as his assistant.

The former Canberra head coach and long-time assistant returns to Redfern, where he worked in 2017 and 2018 under Michael Maguire and Anthony Seibold.

The Rabbitohs lost experienced assistants Sam Burgess and John Morris late last year, with the stacked side going through a tumultuous period in which they’ve won just five of their past 19 games.

Demetriou said Furner would look after the team’s defence, which is currently ranked the worst in the competition conceding nearly 33 points per game. He will work with the forward pack on stop the team leaking points with Souths having concded nearly 200 points in six games.

“I’m really happy to have David joining our crew. He will add a lot to our coaching staff and, most importantly, our players,” Demetriou said.

“We’re looking for ways to improve our performances and we think that having an experienced coach like him coming in to concentrate on the team’s defence will be a positive.

“We’ve worked together previously and had great success at the Cowboys, and he knows what our club is all about having worked here before.”

Furner gave frank assessment of what was ahead saying “there is a bit to do.”

“For me it is an easy move - I know a lot of the staff, I know the hierarchy. I’ll be working with the forwards around their defence and things like that,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“I am keen to help out. It is good to be back in the game.”

Cook said having Furner onboard could only help

“There’s talk, obviously, of ‘Furnsey’ coming in. We’ve got the bye this weekend so we’ve had a couple of days off so I’m not sure what’s actually going on. But if he is (arriving), that’s going to be a great little addition to our team as well and to help us out at the moment,” he said.

The pressure looked to be getting to Demetriou last week when he walked out of his pre-game press conference after just 27 seconds.

But his side did put on an improved performance in their 34-22 loss to Cronulla, pushing the Sharks to their limits despite a series of key injuries.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga was linked with taking the role on an interim basis should Souths sack Demetriou, although both he and the club have denied there has been an official approach.