The Knights playmaker spent two years at the Bulldogs in 2019-20, after playing his first 20 NRL games with Newcastle across 2016-18.

Cogger, now 26, returned to his debut club this season after additional stints at Super League side Huddersfield and Penrith, where he won a premiership last year.

Sunday's match at Accor Stadium will be the first time he has played against the Bulldogs since his 22-game spell at the Sydney club.

"When I first went down there in 2019, we had an OK season," Cogger said.

"That was the first time I played 10, 12 games of NRL back-to-back.

"I hadn't done that at the Knights, before that, I was in and out for 20 games over three years.

"Whereas that first year at the Dogs, I actually would say I played a full season in the NRL.

"That was something for me, where I realised I can probably do this week-in, week-out."

In his first year at the Bulldogs, they ran 12^th and Cogger played 17 NRL games.

His second season, half of which was under Dean Pay, the other half under interim coach Steve Georgallis, he made five NRL appearances.

"2020 - my second year there - there were dramas on and off the field with coaches being sacked and whatnot," Cogger said.

"It teaches you a different type of resilience, and led me on a different path.

"Even though the success as a team, and probably as an individual, wasn't that good, I definitely got some things out of it, whether it was good or bad, it helped me get back here in the end."

Cogger has come a long way in the three-and-a-half years since his last Bulldogs game.

After two seasons in England, he found a way back into the NRL at Penrith last year, and in just a single season as a back-up half, did enough to land a three-year deal with Newcastle.

The Toukley Hawks junior, who has openly spoken about wanting to "right some wrongs" in second stint at the Knights, is finding his feet back in the red and blue.

After coming off the bench for two games, he has started the past four matches; two at halfback alongside five-eighth Tyson Gamble and two at five-eighth with Jackson Hastings at halfback.

With two try-assists, two forced drop-outs and six tackle-breaks to his name, Cogger has made a respectable start to his campaign but he is far from content.

"I can always be better," he said. "I'm still working out combinations with the spine.

"We've had three short turnarounds, and a bit of travel in between, so we haven't actually had that much time on the field.

"We haven't worked on combinations as such.

"Hopefully we can get some time on the training field and work out some things that aren't going exactly how we want."

Having played through Newcastle's lean years in his first stint at the club, Cogger actually hadn't won a game as a Knight at McDonald Jones Stadium until the win over Melbourne last month.

It took him 14 home matches to taste victory.

"I'd only won here when I was at Canterbury," he said.

"I played 20 NRL games for the Knights [prior to this season]... I won a few, but they were all away."

Remarkably, Cogger won't face any former Canterbury teammates on Sunday.

There's none in the Bulldogs' broader squad either.

"Everyone knows the Dogs have cleared through some players," Cogger said.

"There's not one person there that I played with."