"At the start of the year, if you told me this is what I'd be doing, I probably wouldn't believe it," Jack Cole said about playing in the finals for the Panthers.
There's no performance in the way he says it, just a kind of quiet disbelief that hasn't quite worn off yet.
Cole watched the New Zealand Warriors and Newcastle Knights semi-final, sizing up whoever his side would meet next.
It was, in his estimation, a tough, back-and-forth contest.
Heavy collisions, long passages without a stoppage, both sides trading off each other's mistakes. He pointed to Dominic Young's try as the game changed by a dropped ball, a quick shift to the edge, and suddenly six points were on the board.
"It was a good, hard finals game," Cole simply said.
It was kind of an understated appraisal you'd expect from someone who has, this year, become intimately familiar with that kind of football.
There's something almost funny about Cole talking so calmly about sizing up an opponent in a preliminary final.
In 2025, he only played seven NRL games and was guaranteed to play NSW Cup more than be considered for first grade, let alone have a say in how his team prepares for final football.
Since arriving in Penrith in 2018, his path has been anything but linear.
Filling in when injuries hit, predominantly playing NSW Cup and waiting for chances at first grade, a World Club Challenge appearance here, a trial for NSW Country there.
The moment arrived as these things often do, through someone else's misfortune.
When Nathan Cleary was sin-binned against the Sydney Roosters in the first week of the finals, Cole was thrust into the game's most demanding position at the start of the second half to steady a finals contest.
With no Cleary until the 50th minute, Blaize Talagi at right centre and Jack Cogger out with suspension, his execution was so crucial as his side played with 12 men against the Roosters' 13.
He's been there before, in a smaller way, two years ago against the Melbourne Storm, when a knocked-out Cleary forced him into a similar role.
That memory, he said, was something to lean back on.
"I feel like it was a good test; we've had it happen before a couple of years ago... it's good having Yeoy [Isaah], Kenny [Mitch] and Dyl [Edwards] there as well," Cole reflected.
Giving credit to his teammates, he was also aware of the differences between a regular season match and a match in the finals.
"It was definitely the hardest game I've been a part of. That was my 22nd NRL game, so yeah, it was a bit of a kick in the arse," Cole chuckled and admitted to Zero Tackle.
"It was a cool game to be part of, and they're the games that you play, that's why you play, is to play finals.
"[It was] good to get away with the win, and it was probably a few periods in the game where we thought, 'I don't know how we're going to go here, but the boys saw it through and came out on top, which was good."
When asked what he still wants to build into his play as he continues his rugby league career, he points to a teammate, Nathan Cleary.
Cole noted Cleary's willingness and ability to scramble across the field to make a play even when he's exhausted.
"I feel like being the half, Nafe's a good one. You'll watch him all the time. If there's a break on the right side, he'll be scrambling from the other side," Cole explained.
"He's always putting himself in the picture to make a play and stuff like that... That's what makes him so much better than everyone else."
When also asked about how Cleary is looking ahead of the must-win preliminary final, Cole spoke very positively on Tuesday.
"He's going well; I think he's looking pretty good to be honest. Might have to do a bit more kicking but it'll be up to him," Cole clarified.
Heading into the Knights clash, Cole was impressed with what he saw against the Warriors and how they have turned things around after getting the wooden spoon last season.
"With Holbrook coming in, it looks like the Knights have tried to play a different style of footy where they're trying to grind teams down and keep the ball in play and transition well and stuff like that," he expressed.
"It'll be a good challenge to see who can do it for longer and do it better. I'm looking forward to it."
There's a version of this year's grand final where Cole doesn't play or start if they make it that far, given Cogger has returned to the side.
Instead, he's focused on fulfilling the dream he had when he was 15 years old, signing from Orange, without ever quite letting himself believe it was coming.
There's a genuine gratefulness in Cole's words. He's also already looking past it, toward one game at a time, and soon his future in Perth, a fresh start of his own choosing rather than one handed to him when things go horribly wrong in circumstance.
This finals run is still his to make something of, and for a player who spent years waiting for his moment, with injuries, playing in NSW Cup, trusting the process, that's not a small thing to hold onto.
