POPULAR former Keighley Cougars player and coach Jason Demetriou has taken on a marquee international role.

Earlier this week, he was named head coach of Papua New Guinea, who reached the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, only to be knocked out by hosts England.

Demetriou’s squad is packed with players from the NRL, where has coached for the past decade.

It also contains Super League stars like Nene Macdonald, Rhyse Martin and Lachlan Lam, while Bradford Bulls second row Keven Appo is also part of the national set-up.

Demetriou cut his teeth in the dugout at Cougar Park, joining the club as their player/head coach in 2011.

He got them promoted to the Championship at the end of his first season, then led them to an excellent sixth-placed finish in the second tier in his second and final campaign.

They qualified for the play-offs as a result, knocked out after a battling 28-24 defeat against a superior Halifax side.