{"id":222696,"date":"2025-10-24T13:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/222696\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T13:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:06:11","slug":"st-helens-confirm-contract-decision-for-forward-as-paul-rowleys-squad-takes-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/222696\/","title":{"rendered":"St Helens confirm contract decision for forward as Paul Rowley’s squad takes shape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

St Helens have confirmed that young forward, Leon Cowen, will be staying with the club in 2026, after signing a new one-year deal.<\/p>\n

Cowen is a Saints academy graduate and made his debut for the club earlier this year. Coming off the bench in a defeat to Leigh Leopards, he rounded off the season with his second Red Vee outing as he took to the field in the Round 27 fixture against Castleford Tigers.<\/p>\n

Coming through the club\u2019s youth system, the 21-year-old found game time both out on loan and in the reserves set up in the past two seasons, with moves to Swinton and Halifax helping his development.<\/p>\n

The youngster is capable of playing almost anywhere in the forward pack, and with the departures of Morgan Knowles, Joe Batchelor and James Bell, the Saints are currently light on forwards and could call upon Cowen more often after he showed he has the ability to compete well in Super League.<\/p>\n

St Helens forward \u201cover the moon\u201d to continue with club as senior squad members hailed<\/p>\n

Cowen expressed his gratitude to the club for allowing him to stay on for next year, in what he hopes will be another season of development that include more first-team opportunities.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Saints club website, he said: \u201cLast year was a big one for me, and to be able to continue in 2026 with Saints \u2013 I\u2019m over the moon. I\u2019m going into next year with more confidence, and I\u2019m really excited to be part of something special.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I came in a little later with the Academy, but straight away I knew this was the place I wanted to be, and it still is. At all levels, you know the expectation is to win because of the high standards we set.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a decision that was announced earlier this month, Paul Rowley is the new St Helens head coach, after he signed a three-year deal to replace the outgoing Paul Wellens. Cowen touched on what it will mean to work under a new boss, and how now is as good a time as any to show his talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always looking to do my best,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving someone new in is exciting, and I\u2019ll be looking to put my best foot forward.<\/p>\n

The youngster also praised the more experience members of the Saints forward pack, and admitted he can\u2019t thank them enough for how much they have taught him.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe likes of Big Al [Walmsley], Leesy [Matty Lees] and Morgs [Knowles] have been ridiculously good, haven\u2019t they? It\u2019s not what they say, it\u2019s what they show, and the standards they set. I feel like I have learned so much from just watching them in training, and to then get to work with them \u2013 they\u2019ve taught me more than they realise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serious About Rugby League has launched a brand new podcast which can be watched in full on our YouTube channel here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Helens have confirmed that young forward, Leon Cowen, will be staying with the club in 2026, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-222696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}