Holding Toronto Wolfpack is all part of building process at Keighley Cougars

DENYING Super League-chasing Toronto Wolfpack another predictable win has reminded Keighley Cougars of what their own ambitions should be, according to long-serving prop Brendon Rawlins.

By The Newsroom Tuesday, 15th August 2017, 7:00 am Updated Monday, 11th September 2017, 1:00 pm

Brendon Rawlins: Australian has spent 10 years with Keighley Cougars.

The Australian forward, now in his 10th year with the West Yorkshire club, helped the part-timers earn a famous 26-26 draw against the high-profile Canadian outfit on Sunday.

Keighley were 22-12 down at half-time in the League 1 Super 8s contest but staged a stunning comeback at Lawkholme Lane against the talented newcomers who want to be in the top-flight by 2019.

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Indeed, Craig Lingard’s side could even have forced a victory versus their full-time opponents who had won 16 of their opening 17 League 1 encounters.

Keighley Cougars player Brendon Rawlins, right, works with young teenagers at Your Sporting Chance, a project based at the club which aimed to steer the students away from crime and back into education. (Picture: Tony Johnson)

Rawlins said: “It was a great experience and felt like having a Super League side down here in the Challenge Cup.

“No one really expected us to win but having played them before and done lots of video work on them we knew they were beatable, especially as York had done it the other week, too.

“We had a gameplan that paid off and we played some good rugby. We felt we could have actually won; they had some big players but our pack stuck it to them and we beat them up the middle to force them into errors.”

Keighley, in League 1 since a painful final-day Championship relegation in 2014, now head into Sunday’s game at Whitehaven just two points adrift of fifth place and the play-offs.

Keighley Cougars player Brendon Rawlins, right, works with young teenagers at Your Sporting Chance, a project based at the club which aimed to steer the students away from crime and back into education. (Picture: Tony Johnson)

Rawlins, who helped them win promotion in 2009 and 2011, admitted: “Craig Lingard and the staff here have been looking at more of a three-year plan to go back up. But if we can get into the play-offs – and we’re playing well having beaten York and Doncaster before drawing v Toronto – and go on and do it then great.

“We don’t want to be going up and coming straight back down again, as we have done previously. That’s key; if we win promotion we have to have something in place to make sure we stay up.

“As a club, though, that result against Toronto has really brought a buzz to the place.

“The crowd was excellent and ever since losing at Whitehaven six weeks ago we’ve just built and built and built.”

The 31-year-old is currently enjoying a testimonial year after arriving from Sydney in 2007.

“I think about it all the time about how I’m still here,” he said.

“I was only supposed to come for a year but a year’s turned into 10. I’m settled and hopefully I’ve got a few more years left. I’ve not signed anything for 2018 yet but Craig says he definitely wants to keep me so it should be sorted.”