{"id":409084,"date":"2026-01-12T22:27:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/409084\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T22:27:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:27:20","slug":"cogger-feeling-the-love-after-return-to-penrith-the-western-weekender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/409084\/","title":{"rendered":"Cogger feeling the love after return to Penrith \u2022 The Western Weekender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Jack Cogger is back at the Panthers. Photo: Melinda Jane.
\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In his final game as a Panther in 2023, Jack Cogger played a pivotal role when he came onto the Accor Stadium pitch to replace an injured Jarome Luai 10 minutes into the second half.<\/p>\n

While Nathan Cleary will forever be remembered for 18 minutes of sheer brilliance to win Penrith it\u2019s third consecutive NRL title, Cogger is also regarded as a Grand Final hero from that memorable October evening.<\/p>\n

Now, after two rollercoaster years at Newcastle, the 28-year-old returns to the Panthers to try and make even more happy memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really good coming back,\u201d Cogger told the Weekender.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of familiar faces still around in the coaching staff and a lot of new faces in the playing group, until obviously the older boys get back to training.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jack Cogger during his 2023 Panthers stint. Photo: NRL Images.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have felt the love since returning and putting the gear back on. It\u2019s been good to reconnect with people at the club but also the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cogger left Penrith after a single season and returned to the Knights where he began his rugby league career. The Toukley Hawks junior was two years into a three-year deal before the opportunity to return to the foot of the Mountains caught his attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I left Penrith there was a lot of different circumstances,\u201d Cogger said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I\u2019d get the opportunity to return here. I thought I\u2019d be at Newcastle forever, but it was late last year that the opportunity arose to come back, and I was really keen to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left here in 2023 on a really good note and on really good terms and I think that made it easier when the chance to come back popped up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cogger played 38 games during his second stint with the Knights, however with then coach Adam O\u2019Brien fighting for his job, the club fell into a heap and finished with the wooden spoon last season.<\/p>\n

Cogger said he always felt \u201cvalued\u201d at the Panthers and being asked to return \u2013 this time on a sweet three-year deal \u2013 was one of the most special feelings of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing asked to come back here will probably be one of the highlights of my career, that you can leave a club with a good culture and a successful club for that matter and, a few years later, they wouldn\u2019t mind having you back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty cool feeling and a highlight for me as a player and as a person. I\u2019ve always felt valued here, which is a pretty special thing \u2013 I think everyone chases that whether that\u2019s footy or in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Jack Cogger and Mitch Kenny, when Cogger was playing for the Knights in 2024. Photo: NRL Photos.<\/p>\n

Cogger played just 13 games for the Panthers in 2023, but he\u2019ll always be remembered by supporters for helping Nathan Cleary steer the ship when Luai exited the field injured during the thrilling NRL Grand Final against Brisbane.<\/p>\n

Cogger, who hopes to play in the vacant number 14 jumper this season, said being a Panthers premiership winner is something that he\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I said at the 2023 Presentation Night before I left that Penrith will always hold a special part in my life and in my heart after that year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity to come back here again and build on that and hopefully create some more special moments is something my partner and I are really looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Cogger is back at the Panthers. Photo: Melinda Jane. In his final game as a Panther in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-409084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}