"That's long enough," the 52-year-old said.

"I'll see if there's some sort of assistant coaching role I might be able to get at the Knights - ideally I'd like to keep my hand in the game somehow - but if not then I'll give it away altogether.

"It has been great but it's time for a change."

Ironically Edwards' Goannas suffered their first loss of the season on the weekend, a disappointing 30-12 loss to Wyong.

It was Cessnock's first home loss since the 2019 season, a performance Edwards described as "flat as a tack".

But after winning the COVID-hit competition last season, the Goannas are still in great shape with four wins from their opening five matches.

Edwards coaching record is outstanding. This is his eighth season as first grade coach at Cessnock, for six grand final appearances and one premiership.

He also coached the reserve grade for two seasons for two grand final appearances, and coached Lakes United first grade in 2018 to a grand final.

Certainly Cessnock's loss to Wyong was their first poor performance of the season. On a difficult day for the Coalfields, Kurri too went down convincingly, losing 40-12 to Macquarie at Toronto.

The big points differential edged Macquarie ahead of Cessnock at the top of the table.

Without suspended skipper Mitch Cullen, Kurri were never in it.

"They scored off a bomb inside two minutes and we were poor for the rest of the game," club president Mick Alchin said.

"Without Mitch there wasn't a lot of talk out there. And Ben Wyborn was out too.

"We'll have Ben back next week and Nathan Ross will play his first grade of the season. So we'll look for a better showing against Wyong at home."