Paul March has agreed a two-year contract with Cougars that will keep him at the club until November 2016.

After a tough debut campaign at the helm last term, the former Huddersfield and Wakefield player has made Cougars a force to be reckoned with this season.

They reached the Tetley’s Challenge Cup quarter-finals and currently lie eighth in the Kingstone Press Championship, leaving them well placed to beat the drop.

Chairman Gary Fawcett paid tribute to the player-coach, who is currently serving a two-month stadium ban for abusing a match official.

Fawcett said: “This is good news for the club. “Paul has built a good squad at Cougar Park and this contract extension will enable him to build a great squad as it provides a long term platform for our further evolution towards Super League.

“We're pleased with the way we are progressing so we were very happy to have Paul's agreement.

“The key issues are stability and positive forward evolution towards Super League and this agreement underpins this.

“Now Paul can confidently move forward to discuss re-signing the existing players he wants for next season and to move into the market to secure exciting additions to an already strong squad.”