Rabbitohs dummy-half Damien Cook is adamant that his side can get the job done when they face the reigning premiers on Saturday night.
While a grand final berth is on the line, Cook and Blues teammate Api Koroisau will also go head-to-head in a battle for the Kangaroos No.9 jersey.
After being beaten by the Panthers 14-12 in 2021, Souths hooker is backing his side to make up for a missed opportunity last season.
“It is an opportunity that we missed to win a grand final and that is why you play this great game,” Cook told NRL.com.
“We have got to use that experience in the past to motivate us moving forward.
“After the game, we weren’t jumping around and carrying on about how excited we are because the job isn’t done.
“I think we understand what it takes to win a grand final now, as well as understanding what it feels like to win and lose a preliminary final.”
Penrith have toppled the Rabbitohs on two occasions in 2022, however South Sydney’s meteoric rise into the premiership race has given Cook confidence.
“Everyone is beatable but with a side like Penrith, or the Storm in the past, you have got to play your best footy to beat them,” Cook said.
“That is what we did in round one of the semis last year. We were very good coming out of yardage and very disciplined to not give them easy opportunities to get out of our end.
“Penrith are a quality side, they are obviously the best side of the last few years and to beat them we have got to be better than we were against the Sharks.
“We can’t be giving up easy errors and field position because Nathan [Cleary] and Jarome [Luai] will keep us locked down our end and do what they did to us in the grand final.”
Cook already has four Test caps to his name and is eager to cement himself in Mal Meninga’s Australian side for the upcoming World Cup — but for now his focus remains the task at hand.
“Everyone wants to play in the World Cup, everyone wants to play representative footy, it is the greatest honour in our game to wear that green and gold jersey, but that is for after the season is done,” Cook said.
“There is a big game in front of us and winning a grand final is something we want to do here so I just want to make sure we get the job done, have a great week at training, win this prelim, get into the grand final and give it our best crack.”
