Doug Hewitt is set to return to the Bathurst Panthers for the 2023 Peter McDonald Premiership season

Hewitt, who played at halfback in the Panthers' 2018 and 2019 back-to-back grand final wins, stepped away from the sport for the 2022 season.

While Hewitt said he didn't initially plan on playing with Panthers this year - he joined pre-season training purely for personnel fitness - he's since come to the decision he will return to the club for the 2023 season.

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"It's been good to be back," he said.

"Like I told [captain] Jake [Betts] from the get-go, I can't commit to playing every game, if any. My number one priority is still driving horses.

"I'm away a lot of weekends and [harness racing] is still the priority. I told Jake I can't commit to a full-time first grade position, but it's just good to be back around the boys.

"It's good to be getting fit again. It's amazing what one year off can do to you."

Since he stepped away from the sport, Jake Betts took over Hewitt's role as captain-coach.

Hewitt said he's been impressed by Betts' work at the club, helping guide the Panthers to a finals position in the inaugural Peter McDonald Premiership.

"What he did last year was above what everyone expected," he said.

"There was a fair few of our key players, like the Seager boys, who stepped away from it. It was always going to be hard for him but to get the boys through the finals was a massive effort.

"Being back there and seeing how he can bring a team together, he's got all the boys - whether they're the ones we had or juniors - wanting to playing footy for each other."

In that one year away from the game, rugby league changed drastically in the region, with Group 10 and Group 11 merging to form the new Peter McDonald Premiership.

"I was pretty interested when they first started talking about [merging the competitions], when I was still in charge at Panthers," he said.

"I didn't know how it was going to work and after talking to a couple of boys, it probably could've been better.

"This year will be good to be back amongst it and see how it works first hand."

Hewitt's career has enjoyed plenty of success, taking him from Sydney, the Gold Coast and northern Queensland.

Back in 2011, after touring Europe with the Australian Institute of Sport rugby league squad, Hewitt relocated to Sydney.

He played Toyota Cup for the Penrith Panthers in 2012 and the following year was a member of the premiership-winning National Youth Competition side.

In 2014, Hewitt moved to northern Queensland as a member of the Mackay Cutters, a feeder club for the Cowboys.

Hewitt got the chance to train alongside the likes of Johnathan Thurston and had been touted as a possible replacement for the NRL star while he was on State of Origin duties with Queensland.

However, injury meant Hewitt was denied a chance to make his NRL debut with the Cowboys, a broken toe sidelining him.

In 2015, he linked up the Tweed Heads Seagulls and spent 2016 there as well, before linking back up with his junior club Panthers in 2017.

In the 2019 Group 10 first grade grand final against Mudgee Dragons at Carrington Park, Hewitt scored the crucial field goal in extra-time, as the Panthers went on to win 9-8.

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