Jack Cogger (born 5 August 1997) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who plays as a and for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

in the NRL. He previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

and the

Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

in the NRL and for the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

in the

Betfred Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

Background

Cogger was born in

Greenacre, New South Wales Greenacre, a suburb of local government areas City of Canterbury-Bankstown and the Municipality of Strathfield, is located 17 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a pa ...

, Australia. He is the son of former

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

player Trevor Cogger. Cogger played his junior rugby league for the

Toukley Hawks The Toukley Hawks are an Australian rugby league football youth club based in the suburb of Toukley on the Central Coast of NSW. They have numerous teams competing in competitions run by the Central Coast Division of Country Rugby League, from ...

, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early years

From 2014 to 2016, Cogger played for the Newcastle Knights'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. In November and December 2014, he played for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

. On 21 January 2015, he re-signed with the Knights on a contract to the end of 2016. On 27 August 2015, he extended his Knights contract until the end of 2018.

2016

In 2016, Cogger captained the Knights' NYC side. In round 10 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, he made his NRL debut for the Knights against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...

. In July, he played for the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

under-20s team against the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

under-20s team. He went on to play 6 NRL games in his debut season.

2017

After playing just one game for the Knights'

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

side, Cogger's 2017 season was derailed after having to undergo pelvis surgery. He made his return to the field in round 13 for the club's NYC side, while also playing two NRL matches at the end of the year.

2018

In January, Cogger signed a 2-year contract with the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

starting in 2019, after his pathway to first-grade for the Knights was blocked through the signings of

Mitchell Pearce Mitchell Pearce (born 7 April 1989) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He previously played for Sydney Roosters, with whom he won the 2013 NRL Grand Final and Ne ...

and Connor Watson. Cogger played his final game for the Knights in his side's 12-24 loss to the St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 25.

2019

Cogger made a total of 17 appearances for Canterbury in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club finished 12th on the table. At one stage, Canterbury-Bankstown found themselves sitting last on the table and in real danger of finishing with the wooden spoon. However, for the third straight season, Canterbury achieved four upset victories in a row over Penrith, the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...

, South Sydney and

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

who were all competing for a place in the finals series and were higher on the table. Pay was credited with the late season revival as the side focused heavily on defence.

2020

On 22 September, Cogger was informed by Canterbury that his services would not be required in 2021 and that he would be released at the end of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-seaso ...

as the club looked to rebuild after a horror year on and off the field. In December 2020, Cogger signed a contract to join

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the Super League.

2022

On 28 May 2022, Cogger played for Huddersfield in their 2022 Challenge Cup Final loss to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

. In October 2022, it was announced that Cogger had signed a one-year deal with the

References

External links

Canterbury Bulldogs profileNewcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cogger, Jack 1997 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Huddersfield Giants players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from New South Wales