www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... his_place/

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... his_place/

Cook's obviously peeved at being left out, which is a good sign. However a look at his stats tells us more.

He's made 14 appearances in comparison with Worrincy's 20.

Cook makes on average 63metres a game which beats Worrincy's 48metres and his 24 tackles a game beats Worrincy's 18.

However Cooks misses more tacklesat 2 a per game and makes more errors.

There's not much between them really but one thing they do have in common is that they're short of quality.

It has become increasingly clear that he is a busted flush. A serial disappointer. And to think at one time he was being hailed as the greatest youngster in RL.

we have made Matt Cook from the wayne rooney of RL to an average second rower who for me has not showed any class what i heard before he came but he's hard working to be fair but he's not a player who wins you matches maybe another club will bring the best out of him like John Kear at Wakefield or Saints.

Those stats don't take into account how many times Worrincy gets caught out of position in defence, and leaves gaping holes for the opposition to walk through.
I feel sorry for Cook. I personally rate him, and feel that he is a victim of the clubs mistakes. They know that he is out of contract, and they're stuck with Worrincy, so they're not playing him.

To me he seems like the sort of player who might benefit from a change of club, a change of scenery

He was obviously massively hyped when he signed and has rarely, if ever, really shown why. Yeah, he's a hard working trier, but I've never seen much else from him.

But maybe a change of clubs, and a new coach to bring out the best in him would be for the best

He's right though, he should have been kept in at Worrincy's expense.

I'll be really sad to see him go, because I stil think that he will realise his potential, and come back to bite us right in the !!

This should serve as a timely reminder to those who seem to be expecting a team full of world beaters to emerge in the next few years under the same coaching setup that Cook hasn't fulfilled his supposed potential under.

More quality man-management from Macca.

Didn't he once say in the press that if Bradford don't put him in the starting 13 then he's off to union?

Sadly Cook is following a long line of outstanding youngsters who for some reason don't reach their full potential. Anyone remember when Radford came from Hull? He was raved about as being one of the best starlets who Hull had ever produced. He was a great hard working player, and still is, but I don't think a great star?
Chris Bridge when he started at Huddersfield was another, and we still await Leon's brother coming good. These I don't think you can blame Macca for.

I think Bridge would have been a star had he concentrated on rugby.

IMO, the step up to the big boys is too much for some, regargless of how good they look in the academy

Karl Pryce is the ultimate example of that. Loves it when he's twice as big as any other player, but once he's playing with others similar to his own size, he turns into a pansy.

I always liked Cook, he always seemed up for it. Yes he's a little bit raw but that's up to the Coaching set-up to work on. He suffered from McNamarra's persistance in playing people who were poor hoping they would get better. These players have all been named previously but it was this blind faith in players who mostly he signed at the expense of Cook, Halley and probably some reserve grade players. Look how long it took before he had to see reason and drop Platt to play Halley. Maybe if he'd dropped Platt earlier he might have worked harder himself and got back in the squad that way. The other thing has already been mentioned and that is the way he plays people like Cook and Langley, purely as battering rams. No questioning the efforts of both Cook and Langley, they are tackling machines. Hope he stays but if not all the best and we'll probably regret it later....

TBH, Cook (IMO) will never fulfill the potential he supposedly had. In a way I reckon he was another "victim" of the OTT youth/potential marketing that the club have pedalled over the last few seasons. Whilst McNamara was heralded as "the best young British coach in the game", laughably, Cook, admittedly whilst not receiving similar silly praise was never gonna be the player it was suggested he would be, especially after his MOM performance against Hull FC a couple of years back.

Saying that though, the fact that he is not a McNamara signing is probably why he appears to be getting treated somewhat harshly.

Indeed.

TBH, I doubt McNamara could build a house out of Lego, never mind a team of quality RL players from the grass roots level.

Cook's recent statement is a credit to him. No histrionics, no oblique comments -just wants to get into the starting squad on merit.
Disregarding any discussion of his potential and the way Macca has failed to develop this, I wish that all of the Bulls players could be so openly honest in what they intended to do for the club.

To be quite honest, I can see why Cook would be a bit peeved.

While hardly setting the world alight, he's still been a damn sight better than Worrincy. And yet Worrincy continues to get picked every week, despite some god awful performances, while Cook can't get his place back.

If I were Cook, I'd be pretty miffed too.

If McNamara wants to leave out players that aren't gonna be here next year, I can back that. However he clearly isn't doing that as others are still getting in the team.

I honestly can't understand how Worrincy got picked this week ahead of Cook, Donaldson and Whitehead. And judging by Worrincy's "performance" against Quins (easily his worst game to date imo, despite the try), if he gets picked again, then it really is a sign that form and ability (or lack of) really doesn't affect your place in the team.

It showed just how bad Worrincy played when he managed to look absolutely terrible, even when the team was playing very well.

With Whitehead and Donaldson, I suspect it was just a rest thing. We need to be careful not burn the young boys out.

this must be the longest BSC topic thread of all time!

After this week, Whitehead, Cook and Donaldson should be selected over him.

Very much so if you compare them to comments made a few years back. He seems to have matured in recent seasons

No doubt what Macca tells them while they are sat next to him on the bench for 80 minutes.