Josh Rogers 100th Game

As Rogers prepares for another Cup grand final – and his 100^th game with the Burleigh Bears – it’s easy to see how far he has come in six years.

Now 29, the Brisbane Broncos affiliate is one of the more established halves in the competition. He has seven NRL appearances under his belt, has broken point-scoring records, and has the experience of what it takes to win a premiership.

To take it out again this year, it could potentially trump what he achieved in 2019.

“It would mean a lot,” Rogers said.

“Last time in 2019, I was off the bench and played a 25-30 minute role…  I was pretty young.

“We had a lot of the senior boys playing then.

“But this time around, I’ll be starting in the halves. It will mean more being an established starter and feeling more control.

“It would mean everything to be able to get the job done and get to lift the trophy again.”

Now one of the senior players at Burleigh, Rogers remembers how fun grand final day can be and he hopes to help recreate that feeling for his younger teammates this Saturday at Kayo Stadium, when the Bears meet the Norths Devils.

Rogers – who missed Burleigh’s 2023 grand final appearance in what was his only Cup season at another club – said while it can be a nerve-wracking day, the key is to soak it all up and enjoy it for what it is.

“I had a lot of fun in 2019,” he said.

“That’s the biggest thing I remember from the day, how much fun it was to be there on the day itself and then to play and win like we did.

“I’m excited for the game this weekend. Grand finals are hard to make.

“I’m getting closer to the older age of the team and I do feel like I have that experience to try to help any of the boys that haven’t been to a grand final before.

“The key is to just enjoy yourself. You do all the hard work in pre-season and the end goal is to win the grand final.

“You have to enjoy the day, enjoy the week and that’s the main thing.

“I always do it with any game of footy because it’s something I love to do and there’s no better job than playing footy. No one wants to not be able to do that.”

And one factor that will certainly make it more fun for Rogers is his milestone.

While it is far from his focus on game day, the five-eighth cannot deny that it will make the occasion a touch more special than it already is.

The West Australian product came to Burleigh in 2015 as an 18-year-old and worked his way through the ranks to his Cup debut in 2018.

Even as he has moved through his career in other places, both with the Broncos and for one year with Wynnum Manly, the Bears have always remained his home.

“It makes the day a little more special,” he said of his milestone.

“I love playing for Burleigh. Last year I was able to play 100 Q Cup games but this year it’s 100 for the club that’s helped me out a lot.

“It’s the club I played for when I first moved over from Perth. They’re my home club over here.”

These days as a Broncos-contracted player, Rogers generally only joins the Bears for captain’s run and game day.

This week he will put in the extra time with Burleigh, making sure he’s with them for video review and preview, and to be at the competition’s season-ending awards on Thursday night.

But, when he looks back on the season, Rogers’ time with the Broncos gave him a unique perspective in the lead up to grand final day.

After doing his pre-season at Red Hill, he came in to his Round 2 clash against Wynnum Manly – Burleigh’s first game of the year – to the early realisation that Burleigh could definitely be premiership contenders.

“In my first game I went, ‘this team is a fair team’,” he said.

“I knew we would definitely have an opportunity to go as far as we can and every week we seem to get better.”

And that is who Rogers will be playing for this weekend.

Individual accolades aside, the playmaker knows that the premiership decider is about the club as the whole – from his teammates to his coaches to the people who get behind them week after week.

“That’s a big thing… Burleigh are a very tight group, not just the players but the sponsors, staff, past players, supporters,” he said.

“It’s a close club and we’re not just trying to win for the 18 guys that are there on the day, but it’s for the A-graders who train with us all year, it’s for the fans, the sponsors, the past players who helped us.

“You’re playing for all of them as well. It would be special to lift the trophy and have them all around us.”