KEIGHLEY Cougars have announced some major retention news ahead of the end of season run in.

Junior Sa'u, the veteran centre who is so vital to the way Keighley play, has signed a new one-year deal with the club, which will keep him at Cougar Park until the end of 2025.

Cougars’ interim head coach Jake Webster told the club website: “Junior's a big part of the culture here.

“When he said he wanted to go round again, I jumped at the chance to secure his signature."

For someone playing in the third tier, Sa'u has some serious rugby league pedigree.

The Auckland native played 86 NRL games for Newcastle Knights as a youngster, while he was later a key figure for Salford in Super League for half-a-decade.

Sa'u, who has been capped internationally by both New Zealand and Samoa, switched codes in 2022, playing rugby union for Old Glory DC in the USA.

But he joined Keighley after just a few months out in America, helping them to promotion from Betfred League 1 before almost helping them avoid relegation last term.

Cougars look set to miss out on the title to Oldham this season in the third tier, but Sa'u will likely be a key figure if they are to seal promotion via the play-offs.

With League 1 being expanded to 11 teams next season, and the Championship being cut to 13 sides, even if Cougars win the play-offs, they will not yet be promoted.

On Sunday, October 13, the winner of the League 1 play-offs will face the 12th-placed Championship side, currently Swinton, to determine who takes the 13th and final place in the second tier for 2025.