Wakefield finally got their man on Friday when Paul Cooke, Hull KR's out-of-favour stand-off, joined them on a short-term contract. The 28 year-old former Hull favourite will go straight into the squad for Sunday's home game against Salford.
Cooke was initially expected to move to the Wildcats on loan but instead signed a deal to the end of the season after Rovers granted him a release.
"It's taken a fair bit of getting over the finish line but Paul is now officially a Wakefield player until November 2010," Wildcats coach John Kear said.
The controversial Cooke was under contract at Craven Park to the end of the season but he was dropped for a second time by Rovers coach Justin Morgan last month and faced the prospect of being frozen out of the game.
"The decision came down to whether to play rugby league or not to play rugby league," Cooke said.
"I have been a rugby league player since the age of eight and I want to continue to do that."
Cooke was relieved to have finally resolved his short-term future and insists he will be ready to begin the next stage of his career immediately.
"I've spent all my life in Hull and still have many friends from both sides of the city," he said.
"Of course it's a sad time whenever you leave anything on maybe not the right terms but it's a big opportunity to play for a club I've had many a battle with over the years.
"The last three weeks have been quite strenuous for me and the people who are close to me because I become quite moody when I'm not playing rugby league.
"It's difficult to keep as fit as you can with not playing rugby and not getting the bumps and bruises but I'm quite aerobically fit and physically fit."
Cooke stunned the rugby league world with his cross-city move from Hull FC to Rovers in 2007 and was subsequently handed a four-month ban after being found guilty of making an illegal approach.
He turned down a chance to join Wrexham-based Crusaders in the close season because he is keen to maintain close contact with his young daughter, who lives in Hull, and now has six months in the shop window to earn a new contract.
Kear has been a long-time admirer of the ball-handling talents of the former England international, but there is unlikely to be a reunion for Cooke with his old Hull half-back partner Danny Brough, who is poised to complete a move to Huddersfield early next week.
It was Cooke who scored the all-important try with three minutes to go and Brough landed the conversion to help give Kear-coached Hull a 25-24 win over Leeds in the 2005 Challenge Cup final at the Millennium Stadium.
Although Brough is also thought to be wanted by Catalans Dragons, the Giants remain firm favourites for his signature, with Wakefield set to receive at least one player and possibly cash in exchange.
Brough was named in Kear's 19-man squad alongside Cooke, raising the slim possibility of one last match together.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyl ... ulder.htmlAnyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
