Coaches coy but Cook says this won't just be another game

They're both saying publicly that they're treating Thursday's match as just another game but Souths hooker Damien Cook suspects his current and former coach are privately thinking otherwise.

There will be an avalanche of hype leading into the Rabbitohs' clash with Brisbane at ANZ Stadium concerning the first meeting between Wayne Bennett and Anthony Siebold since they effectively switched jobs in the off-season.

There was a fair degree of animosity when the deal went down 12 months ahead of schedule but neither coach is looking to add any fuel to the flames before the round-eight showdown.

"I think they're both pretty professional and I can only speak on my behalf and when I play my old sides like the Dragons and Bulldogs I always want a win over them," Cook said.

"They're probably the same too when they came up against their old side."

Cook conceded he spoke to Bennett before the coach had been sacked by Brisbane to take up his role with South Sydney but insisted there was never any talk about the 2019 season.

"It was pretty spoken about in the media and there were a couple of us Wayne had spoken to. I was going through some contract stuff too and Wayne, at least, we knew was going to be coach from 2020 onwards," he said.

"Everyone knows that we spoke and to hear him on why he wanted me to stay ... it was a good feeling. I wanted to stay as well as long as the coach wanted me to. I can swear on that it was all about 2020."

As for his relationship with Seibold, the NSW and Kangaroos hooker said there were no hard feelings towards his former mentor who sought an early release from the club after just one season at the helm.

"I had a really good relationship with Seibs while he was here and we did some really good things," Cook said.

"When you move footy teams as well you lose connection with a lot of the guys you were mates with as well. You don't have time to get back to that sometimes. You've just got to move on and do the job in front of you.

"For us as a playing group it got to a point where, whatever happened we just wanted it to be done and sorted so we could move on. Whether Seibs was staying or Wayne was coming down as a playing group we were like, 'get our coach here and let's just get going'."

Cook and teammate John Sutton were more worried about winning Thursday's match out of respect to their recently retired captain Greg Inglis. Souths will pay tribute to Inglis at ANZ Stadium on Thursday night.

"Greg's been a wonderful player for this game and a future Immortal. I got to play a lot of footy with him and it's unbelievable the stuff he's been able to do on the footy field," Sutton said.

"When he retired and seeing some of the footage and highlights on Instagram, it was unbelievable what he was able to do on the field. He's had a wonderful career and I wish him all the best across the road at the club. I'm sure whatever he does next he'll be a success."