Jack Cogger has compared Newcastle's standards and culture to his former club and reigning premiers Penrith, lauding a "top-to-bottom" improvement in professionalism since his first stint at the Knights five years ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The playmaker, after a season at the Panthers which culminated in a premiership and crucial grand final role, has spent the past couple of months back at the Knights and been pleasantly surprised by his experiences.
"There's some things that are always the same, but the progression in the last five years from when I was last here is pretty evident, and that probably came out on the field, especially last year," Cogger said on Thursday.
Now 26, Cogger debuted for the Knights in 2016 when the club was at its lowest ebb, losing an NRL-era record 19 consecutive games. He made 20 first-grade appearances before departing for Canterbury at the end of 2018.
Five years on, the Toukley Hawks junior has hailed how far the club has come along.
"Professionalism from top to bottom. That's one thing and it comes with good leadership as well," he said.
"There's some really strong leaders at the club here now. Some have been brought in and others have come from within. They're the two that stand out for me."
Asked how the Knights' training, standards and culture compared to Penrith, Cogger was resolute that they were comparable.
He was also hopeful they could bear similar fruits.
"It's right up there," he said.
"It's pretty impressive. I don't think there's too much difference.
"Obviously there's a couple of ways to go about things, you can't use the same methods for every team and club, it doesn't work like that.
"But the way we have been going about this pre-season, there's no reason why we can't be there late into September and October later this year."
Speaking from Tamworth where the Knights are on a training camp this week, Cogger said he knew from Newcastle's results last year the club had made strides but he has been pleased to confirm it first hand.
"You don't just win 10 games on the trot, and against good teams as well, unless things behind the scenes are in place and everyone is believing in what is in place," he said.
"But getting my feet on the ground and involved with it, it gave me the evidence that that was true and there's a lot of belief in the squad."
Cogger was a back-up half to Penrith duo Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai last year, playing both halfback and five-eighth in his 13 appearances, along with spending some time at dummy-half.
But heading into the 2024 season, he is in a three-way battle with incumbent Knights pairing Jackson Hastings and Tyson Gamble to start in the halves.
"Luckily it's not my job to pick that," he said. "But that's a good thing. You'd rather have three quality halves than not any at all.
"We've all been changing around and trying different combinations ... and that's not just in the halves, but across the back-line and in the forwards as well. There's plenty of competition in the squad, which is only going to make us better and at the end of the day ... we'll do what's best for the team."
Back at the Knights for at least the next three seasons, and having recently become engaged to his long-time partner, the 55-game half is feeling happy and content with his move home.
"I wasn't worried about coming back, but now that I'm here I know I've made the right decision," he said.
