RYAN CARR has dismissed any concerns over new Castleford Tigers signing Damien Cook.
Cook, who has made almost 250 NRL appearances since debuting back in 2013, has penned a two-year deal with the Tigers from 2027.
However, the St George Illawarra Dragons hooker turns 35 next month, but Carr also has no qualms about Cook’s age.
“He played 80 minutes at the weekend and made 40-odd tackles so nothing has changed with Cooky as he’s got older,” Carr said.
“It’s just a number, if anyone watches him play he is playing as good footy as he ever has.”
The Castleford boss went on to describe just how big of a signing Cook is for the Tigers.
“It’s a really big signing for us, we have been doing a lot of recruitment early for next season,” Carr said.
“We we want to go early after our targets and not wait for later on in the season.
“Cooky fits what we want here in terms of leadership and quality of play. He’s a great person on and off the field.
“I’ve known him for a long time and I’m super excited to get him here.
“He’s just a good person, he’s got a great family with a lovely wife and kids and his values are really strong.
“Because of experience in the Origin arena, Grand Finals and Australia, he has seen the game from a lot of different angles.”
The ability to attract someone of Cook’s calibre can help the club bring in more stars, according to Carr.
“It has its draws and so does Maps (Krystian Mapapalangi) re-signing when he had multiple other clubs in for him.
“It’s a good sign for the culture of our club and the identity we are trying to build.
“I knew it was going to be a process but we are going to continue to work as hard as we can.”