Cole's Penrith finals chance opened when Nathan Cleary was sin-binned against the Sydney Roosters in week one.
At halftime, Cole was thrust into the game's most demanding position to steady the contest.
In 2025, he played seven NRL games and was likelier to feature in NSW Cup than first grade.
Since joining Penrith in 2018, he mainly played NSW Cup, filling injury gaps while awaiting first-grade chances.
Cole reflected on the unexpected opportunity: "At the start of the year, if you told me this is what I'd be doing, I probably wouldn't believe it," he said.
Ahead of the preliminary final, he watched the Warriors-Knights semi-final to assess Penrith's next opponent.
Cole saw a physical contest with long uninterrupted passages and errors on both sides.
He pointed to Dominic Young's try, which followed a dropped ball and a quick shift to the edge.
"It was a good, hard finals game," Cole simply said.