South Sydney Rabbitohs

Both teams struggled for ideas in attack but the spark from Reynolds was the difference, repeatedly causing the Rabbitohs' flimsy left-edge defence all manner of problems.

A late try to former Rabbitoh Michael Oldfield with four minutes left got the Panthers level after the Rabbitohs controlled most of the second half, before the cool head of Reynolds slotted the one-pointer from 20 metres out to notch up the Bunnies' third win of the season.

After 20 minutes of arm-wrestle football that saw both sides go close on multiple occasions, Johnathan Thurston was the man to break the deadlock with a penalty goal in the 20th minute.  

On that occasion, Burgess was taken off after 31 minutes, passed his HIA check and started the second half in a tight 24-18 win.

On Thursday, Burgess reeled out of a collision with Roosters back-rower Isaac Liu in which the Rabbitohs lock – while attempting to tackle Liu – collected the Rooster's shoulder on his jaw.

George Burgess was charged with a grade two striking charge and will miss two matches. 

Hymel Hunt was charged with a grade two reckless high tackle charge and will miss four matches.

It's no secret the NSW Origin No.9 had his attacking licence revoked during an unhappy final spell at the Wests Tigers but the past fortnight has seen Farah begin to show that along with halves Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds, fellow Souths dummy-half Cook and now-fullback Alex Johnston the club has the makings of a slick spine.

The Rabbitohs conceded three tries in the opening 12 minutes against the Sea Eagles but managed to turn it around to secure a morale-boosting win on the road. 

After blowing Manly away late in a runaway 38-18 win at Lottoland on Saturday afternoon, the two best pieces of news for Souths fans were the reinvigorated forward pack – which seemed to benefit from the return of George Burgess despite one costly error – and the immediate spark generated between fullback Alex Johnston, five-eighth Cody Walker, halfback Adam Reynolds and dummy-half pair Robbie Farah and Damien Cook. 

Farah added spice to his new side's NRL season-opener against the Tigers by making it clear there was still lingering resentment between him and coach Jason Taylor.

Addressing his tumultuous exit from Concord for the first time, he described his time under Taylor as "unhappy."

He had a chance to publicly extend an olive branch to Taylor, who won a power struggle to force out the NSW State of Origin rake, however refused to comment on their relationship.

‌"I'm not going to talk about that, to be honest that's in the past," Farah said.

An explosive hooker, Cook joined the Rabbitohs in October of 2015 and went on to represent the Rabbitohs 17 times in 2016. He made 462 tackles, 15 offloads and was handy with his boot – kicking seven goals and 21 times in open play for 554 kick metres.

Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire was happy with Cook's decision to remain in the Red & Green until the end of season 2019. Maguire pointed to Cook's professionalism and growth as a football player as signs that a big future lies ahead for Damien Cook.