{"id":786283,"date":"2026-07-08T05:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T05:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/786283\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T05:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T05:16:20","slug":"cowboys-backrower-poised-for-super-league-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/786283\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys backrower poised for Super League return"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a player who once helped define an era at Leigh, the door back to the Leopards has quietly been left open, and now it appears Kai O’Donnell<\/a> could leave the Cowboys with a plan in mind.<\/p>\n

The back-rower, who enjoyed an immensely successful three-year spell at Leigh Leopards<\/a> before returning to the NRL<\/a> in 2025, finds himself off contract at the end of this season and for now without a deal for 2027.<\/p>\n

It’s a situation that has been monitored back in the UK, where a host of Super League<\/a> clubs had already begun circling the 27-year-old given the form he showed during his stint in Leigh colours.<\/p>\n

According to Love Rugby League, the chase from rival Super League<\/a> suitors may prove to be the direction O’Donnell heads back to.<\/p>\n

O’Donnell has been exploring his options in the NRL<\/a> first, having earned a fresh opportunity with the North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> ahead of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

That chance yielded 18 appearances for the club in his first year in Townsville.<\/p>\n

However, this season is a different story, as O’Donnell has only made five appearances in 18 rounds, with his last game being against the Parramatta Eels<\/a> in Round 10.<\/p>\n

His future in Townsville appears to be drawing a close, though that hasn’t dampened interest elsewhere.<\/p>\n

O’Donnell’s first NRL<\/a> start was with the Canberra Raiders<\/a> in 2020 before signing with the Leopards and playing from 2022 to 2024.<\/p>\n

The club were below the Super League<\/a>, where O’Donnell helped the side make a promotion push, and the rewards that followed were significant.<\/p>\n

The former Leopards backrower was part of the side that lifted the Challenge Cup in 2023.<\/p>\n

In 2024, he crossed for 12 tries in 29 appearances as the Leopards reached the semi-finals for a second consecutive season.<\/p>\n

Leigh has secured Lazarus Vaalepu<\/a> from the Melbourne Storm<\/a> as an immediate mid-season addition to bolster their middle unit.<\/p>\n

Further additions are expected as the Leopards build towards 2027, and O’Donnell, a player with a track record of success at the club, is now firmly in their sights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a player who once helped define an era at Leigh, the door back to the Leopards has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-786283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}