Shocking timing: Cook backs Blues teammate Moses to spark Eels

Souths hooker Damien Cook says back-to-back Parramatta losses and the return of Origin halfback Mitch Moses make this a bad time to face the Eels.

Cook had weighty praise for his Origin III teammate, who played through the pain of a fractured back for almost the entirety of his Origin debut.

"We probably haven't got them at a good time," Cook said.

"They'll be looking to bounce back and really start playing some good footy going into the finals.

"I'm sure they consider themselves a top four side too and they want to make sure they stay in contention for the top four which is very important come finals time. Mitchell Moses back is a massive in for those guys."

Cook said he had no idea during the game how serious Moses's injury would turn out to be.

"I remember after the game in Origin he was getting his back checked but to find out what had happened and how early he did it in the game, he's a tough player," Cook said.

"He put his body on the line and did his job that game as well. I've got a lot of respect for Mitch. He was a player I was always looking forward to playing alongside as well.

"I love how he's always on the ball, he's got plenty of energy, his support play is great and he backs himself. He's dangerous and definitely one we've got to watch this weekend. He's a big in for Parramatta and one of their danger players."

Back-rower Jaydn Su'A said Moses could expect plenty of traffic, but that would have happened regardless as the key playmaker.

"He's one of their main men so he was always going to receive a bit of traffic," Su'A said.

"He's a great player and he's their general, he steers them around the field. It's a big positive for them having him back but we're going to be ready and switched on for him.

"We know how much of a quality side Parramatta can be. They've had back-to-back losses so they will come out firing and they'll come out strong."

One other player keeping Souths on their toes will be in-form back-rower Isaiah Papali'i.

"He's scary, eh!" Su'A laughed.

"He's playing unbelievable, he's been good from start to finish this whole season. He's probably in my opinion one of the top two back-rowers in the comp.

"His form warrants that, he deserves all the recognition he gets this year. I'm excited to go up against him and hopefully we can do a job on him because he's definitely one of their strike weapons."

The Rabbitohs and Eels are in the same hub in south-east Queensland, which Su'A said could make for the odd awkward moment but also showed Souths how committed the Eels are to turning their form around.

"Being around here in the hub with them, it's kind of awkward but we've seen how hard they've been training and we see how much they want to turn things around for this week," he said.

"It's unfortunate we've caught them at this time but we were going to play each other regardless. The last few weeks for ourselves has been pretty good, we've been able to put on some big scores but the main thing is our defence, we're really going to switch to a defence focus this week."