With the benefit of age and wisdom, Jack Cogger is hoping he can help unlock the players around him during his second stint with the Knights.
Signed back to the club he made his NRL debut with back in 2016 on a three-year deal, Cogger arrives fresh off playing a key role in Penrith's premiership-winning campaign last season.
With a stint at the Bulldogs and a two-year stay at Huddersfield helping him grow his game before returning to Australia in 2023, the 26-year-old has further benefitted from time as the understudy to Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai last season, which included playing the final half hour of the dramatic grand final win over the Broncos after Luai was injured.
Panthers v Broncos – Grand Final, 2023
While admitting it was a hard decision to leave Penrith – especially now knowing a spot in the halves will open up in 2025 with Jarome Luai signing with Wests Tigers – Cogger has no regrets.
“Being from [Newcastle], I have a lot of family in the area and it makes it a lot easier to transition back, knowing a lot of the boys as well, having so many familiar faces makes the transition a lot easier,” Cogger said.
“It was difficult to leave Penrith ... they are a great club and treated me really well and we had success there. But for me, it was coming home to where I am from and representing the town and the people that I want to and I couldn’t turn that opportunity down."
Speaking from a training camp in Tamworth where the team will return to in Round 10 to face the Wests Tigers, Cogger said his best football "was still ahead" and he's keen to show how he's grown as a player during his time away.
“I’m older now and more experienced and I got to play with some pretty good teams – Penrith last year and my time in the UK – I got to play in some big games," Cogger said.
With that comes experience and I think in the position that I play, you probably play your best footy post-25 and I’ve just hit 26, so I think my best footy is in front of me.
Jack Cogger
“I think Newcastle supporters and fans will see a different player to who I was in my last stint and I think I will be a better player.
“(What I will bring is) experience, belief, confidence in what my skillset and how I can free up other players and do my job for the team."
Since returning to training Cogger has been particularly impressed with the range of leaders on the Knights' roster.
“The leadership through the squad [is] pretty clear. That hasn’t always been the case, say in my last stint, but there’s some really good leaders here and I think we’re hoping for a pretty big year to build on that 2023 season," Cogger said.
“There’s been some guys that have been brought in and there’s also been some real growth in the players that were here.
"For example the Saifitis [Daniel and Jacob], how much they have grown not only as players, but as leaders, has really impressed me since I have been back.”
