![Knights playmaker Jack Cogger. Picture by Marina Neil Knights playmaker Jack Cogger. Picture by Marina Neil](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/ae859686-bd2e-42a3-9ae0-bf903faf7b85.JPG/r0_0_4826_3546_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
HE impressed in Saturday's trial but Knights playmaker Jack Cogger insists this week's match against Melbourne will likely be the clincher to earn a starting spot for next month's season-opener.
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Playing in a Knights jersey for the first time since 2018, Cogger looked at home in the halves during a 40-minute stint either side of half-time in Newcastle's 44-18 win over Cronulla in Gosford.
He kicked a 40-20 in one of his first touches, almost set up a couple of tries and scored one of his own in the second half.
Pre-game, Fox League commentator and four-time premiership-winning playmaker Cooper Cronk suggested Cogger should get first crack in the No.7 jersey this season, but incumbent halfback Jackson Hastings produced a standout display, setting up three first-half tries.
The duo, along with Tyson Gamble, are in a three-way battle to snatch two halves positions and all three played 40 minutes.
Asked what conversations he and coach Adam O'Brien have had about his role in 2024, Cogger, who is coming off a premiership with Penrith last year, said he was still expecting to have to earn his place in the team.
"We've had a few chats, but look, there's so much competition in this squad," Cogger said.
"That's probably one thing I've noticed from the last time I was here.
"You look across the squad, and yes the halves - that's probably the clear one for me, but across the whole 13 there's a lot of competition.
"There's probably a few pencilled in but I doubt he's got that many ready to go.
"I think next week will be real important for everyone across the squad to play well to get that round-one selection.
"That can only be a good thing for the team moving forward."
It had been 1995 days since Cogger's last Knights appearance, and the Toukley Hawks junior said it just felt right to be back in the red and blue.
"It was pretty cool," Cogger said.
"That was the main reason coming back, I wanted to be a Knight again.
"To put that jersey on again was pretty special.
"Even though it's a trial game, it's an honour to put on a Knights jersey every time you get to do it."
After spells at Canterbury, Huddersfield in England and Penrith, Cogger admitted to reflecting on his "full-circle" journey in the lead up to the trial.
![Cogger playing for Canterbury. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Cogger playing for Canterbury. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/ee0038b0-af66-403c-b213-8e20f7cb2b5f.jpg/r0_530_5184_3456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He debuted in 2016, the year Newcastle won the second of three consecutive wooden-spoons.
In his 20 NRL games for the Knights, Cogger enjoyed just three victories.
The 26-year-old said a desire to improve that record was a major reason for re-joining the club.
"I'm not looking at it like I'm coming to prove a point or anything like that, but it would be nice to re-write some history from the last time I was here," he said.
"Just finish higher up the ladder and win some more games, and just be happy with my own footy.
![Cogger playing for the Knights in 2016. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Cogger playing for the Knights in 2016. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/2dfb7baf-79d7-4372-b701-309f1a47c410.jpg/r0_0_3212_2141_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"And hopefully the community of Newcastle and the Hunter is proud of that.
"You can see when they really get behind the team like they did last year, how important it is to the town."
Cogger has returned to the Knights a much more mature and confident playmaker, and he said the standards he adhered to at Penrith last year had proved chalk and cheese compared to his early years in the NRL.
"That's probably one of the biggest differences from when I was at the club," he said.
"When I was at Newcastle five, six years ago, there was a big gap.
"It was like I was playing a different sport when I got to Penrith.
"Our training standards and things like that back then weren't up to scratch, and that's why we were where we were on the ladder.
"But when I came back I could tell the boys were pretty motivated on the back of last year of how Newcastle finished, and not content on that and ready to go again.
"There's more than one way to skin a cat. There's similarities, but at the same time we do things a little bit differently and that suits the clientele and the players that we have."