Ahead of his move to Perth Bears, Jack Cole shapes as Penrith’s NRL finals wildcard
Posted Wed 9 Sep 2026 at 1:19pmWed 9 Sep 2026 at 1:19pmWed 9 Sep 2026 at 1:19pm
In short:
Jack Cole will start at five-eighth for Penrith against the Roosters this weekend in his first NRL final.
Cole made his NRL debut four years ago and a suspension for Jack Cogger has opened the door for him to make his finals debut.
What’s next?
Cole will head to Perth next season as a key signing for the NRL’s expansion side.
Jack Cole’s chance on the NRL’s biggest stage has been a long time coming, but now the Penrith five-eighth could shape as the Panthers finals wildcard.
Sunday’s semi-final against the Sydney Roosters will be just his fifth game of the year and 22nd of his career since his debut four years ago.
Cole has spent the time since in and out of first grade, and while the 23-year old was always part of the team he only sporadically strapped up on match day, especially as the season heated up.
For four straight Septembers, Cole ran opposed sessions and tried to do whatever else he could to get the top side ready for whatever finals battle was to come, waiting for his chance as he bore witness to the greatest dynasty of modern times.
It was not always easy to be patient, but now, at the very end of his Panthers tenure before he joins Perth Bears next season, Cole’s time has come.
The Orange man signed with the Bears to try and be a first grader every week, now he is a first grader in one of the weeks that counts the most.
“The last few years, watching the boys kick on and win grand finals, you try and help where you can,” Cole said.
“But it’s a different perspective now — going on the camps, being in the meetings, it’s a good opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it.
“It has been a little bit [hard to wait]. There’s been a few soft tissue injuries over the past couple of years as well, that’s been more frustrating. You get close, you have an injury, and you need to work your way back up.
“It’s all been character building though. I haven’t had it the easy way, I’ve gone up and come down and known what I’ve had to work on and tried to work my way back up.”
Cole has spent some time under the bright lights. He got a start in the World Club Challenge against Wigan in 2024 and began last season as the team’s starting five-eighth, including in the win over Cronulla in Las Vegas.
Chances have been harder to come by since, but Blaize Talagi’s demotion to reserve grade and Jack Cogger’s three-game suspension for a high tackle opened the door for Cole.
He has also combined well with Nathan Cleary as Penrith warmed up for the finals with back-to-back wins.
“He’s [Cogger] had a few [suspensions] this year, so we thought he might get suspended and I didn’t know if Ivan [Cleary] would go Blaize or me or someone else. But it was definitely something I started thinking about straight away,” Cole said.
“[Cleary] just said to me to defend well and if I see something attack, just do it.
“He wants me to keep it simple, do my role and the rest will fall into place.”
With the best player in the world on his inside and lethal centre-wing duo Casey McLean and Thomas Jenkins on his left, Cole’s job is a simple one — take a little pressure off Cleary when he can, shuffle it out to the weapons early and often, always keep talking and tackle well.
But simple is not the same as easy. If it were, Penrith would not have made the change with Talagi in the first place.
Cogger is due to return from suspension for the Panthers next match, but it feels like there is every chance Cole sticks around in one spot or another.
Throughout Penrith’s ascension and well into their dynasty, coach Cleary has a great tradition of shaking up his side on the eve of the finals to give it a little extra juice.
In 2021 he benched talismanic backrower Viliame Kikau for Liam Martin for the final six games of the season.
The following year Cleary did the same, only with hookers Api Koroisau and Mitch Kenny, in the club’s three finals games.
In 2023 it was Cogger who seized a bench utility spot for the preliminary final and the decider, a move which paid off handsomely when he played a key role in Penrith’s epic comeback against Brisbane.
Paul Alamoti has been the choice two years in a row. In 2024 he replaced Casey McLean at left centre for the final five games of the season and ended up scoring the final try of the grand final win over Melbourne.
Last year he came in for Tom Jenkins on the wing for the semis, scoring five tries in three games leading up to the preliminary final loss to Brisbane.
If all goes well on Sunday, Cole could be this year’s version of the late-season adrenaline shot which has worked so well for the Panthers for so many years.
Cogger’s proven ability to impact a game off the bench could keep Cole in the starting side, or Cole himself could act as the club’s utility given he can also cover centre.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves, which Cole refuses to do. Big dreams about a grand final exit before he heads to Perth will have to wait.
Cole has been with the Panthers since he was 15 and is determined to put into practice everything he has learned since, first on Sunday and then with whatever comes next.
“When it was first happening [getting to the end] I was a bit sad cause I only had six or seven games left and I’ve been here for eight years,” Cole said.
“But now there’s a job to do and I can’t dwell on that. It won’t benefit me or the team.
“I want to use it as an opportunity to help me moving forward and hopefully end on a good note.
“This is the time of year you wait for. This is what it’s all about.”