MATCH PREVIEW: KEIGHLEY COUGARS (A) - Midlands Hurricanes RLFC

BETFRED CHAMPIONSHIP (ROUND EIGHT)
Keighley Cougars v Midlands Hurricanes
Sunday 29 March 2026 – 3pm KO

The Canes go into their third of nine consecutive away fixture this Sunday as they travel to Cougar Park in search of revenge against a Keighley Cougars side who just pipped Midlands into the Fourth Round of the Challenge Cup. Head Coach Mark Dunning will be buoyed by his team’s efforts at the Crown Oil Arena last week, earning a 22-28 win against a Rochdale Hornets side that was unable to capitalise on their many opportunities due to a resilient Midlands defence.

As is often the case in this league, the Canes will see themselves travelling to a club with a very rich history in rugby league. Enjoying their 150th year as a club, the Cougars were founded in 1876 but were not one of the founding members of rugby league, instead opting to join the Northern Union five years later in 1900. Whilst the majority of their success has come in more recent decades, they did win the Second Division in 1902-1903 and would win the Challenge Cup during the 1936-1937 season. Whilst they would win the Second Division again in 1994-1995, they were passed up for promotion in favour of 4th-placed London Broncos who would go on to compete in the newly formed Super League. They have also won the Third Division/League One title on three occasions, in 1992-1993, 2003 and 2022 (the latter seeing them finish as “Invincibles” after winning all 20 of their league fixtures). They would however be relegated after a single season, finishing second-last on points difference that would have seen a single unconverted try secure their second-tier status.

After a strong 2024 League One campaign that saw them finish second and only fall short of an immediate return to the Championship in the play-off final, Keighley had a difficult 2025 season in Betfred League One, finishing ninth with six wins from eighteen games. However, the Cougars very much had a season of two halves and saw a marked improvement in the second half of the campaign that saw win six of their nine games. Whilst they have lost a number of established and veteran players such as Billy Walkley (to Sheffield), Junior Sa’u (to Rochdale) and Mark Ioane (to North Wales), they have recruited former Canes loanee Dee Foggin-Johnston, as well as young ex-Super League prospects Dylan Proud (from Leeds Rhinos) and Lucas Green (from Warrington Wolves). Keighley also have brought four season-long loan signings, with George Hill and Alfie Salmon joining from Super League side Castleford Tigers and Emmanuel Waine and Sam Littler joining from fellow Championship side Oldham.

Cougars and Midlands have enjoyed some close contests in recent years, with the two sides meeting three times last year and the total score difference being +1 in the Cougars favour. The first clash saw an Izaac Farrell drop-goal separate the two sides in a 7-6 win in the Second Preliminary Round of the 1895 Cup. Not long after that, the Canes would return to Cougar Park and secure a first ever away win at Keighley as a Jake Sweeting penalty in the second half would see Midlands end up 24-26 winners early into the 2025 League One campaign. Keighley would ultimately win the tiebreaker towards the end of the season, with a strong first-half performance seeing them end up 22-24 winners at The Alexander Stadium. Last month’s Third Round Challenge Cup clash would also be a nail-biter, with Izaac Farrell once again being the difference maker by scoring the winning try with the last play of the game.

Rochdale currently sit 11th in the Championship, six places and four points behind the Canes. They started their Championship campaign with a 32-18 home win over Goole Vikings, before narrowly losing 22-20 to Dewsbury Rams the FLAIR Stadium and 24-10 to Rochdale Hornets at the Crown Oil Arena. That was followed up two home clashes with Cumbrian opposition, establishing a dominant 56-14 win over Whitehaven and a hotly contested 16-16 draw against Workington Town. They had a difficult trip up to Newcastle last week, with Thunder emerging 44-18 winners at Blaydon. In the Challenge Cup, the Cougars beat Heworth 0-66 at Elmpark Way before toppling Midlands 18-14 in the Third Round, which would earn them a Round of 16 clash with recently promoted Super League outfit York Knights. Despite battling valiantly, the Cougars would go down to a 56-10 loss at the LNER Community Stadium.

In terms of the 21-man squad, Mark Dunning has made one change to the squad announced for the Round Seven clash with Rochdale Hornets last week, with Brandon Moore returning to the fold after recovering from an infection to replace Morgan Punchard.

Your www.enjoytravel.com 21-man squad: