St Helens man makes switch to Championship club for remainder of season

St Helens youngster Leon Cowan has joined up with Halifax Panthers for the remainder of the 2025 Championship season. The Saints and Halifax are dual registration partners this season and that has allowed the youngster to make the move to The Shay on a temporary basis.

The 20-year-old is still waiting to make his St Helens debut, but he joins Fax after making 11 appearances while on loan at Swinton Lions last year. He’ll be keen to build on that experience no doubt and firmly catch the eye of Paul Wellens and the other coaching staff at the Totally Wicked Stadium as he looks to earn himself a new deal.

Cowan is available to make a debut for the Panthers this weekend when Kyle Eastmond takes his side to Widnes Vikings in the Championship as the club look to pick up their first win since the end of April.

Eastmond’s side started the season so strongly but they lost three on the spin before their two week lay-off and while they remain fifth and four points off top spot, they will be looking to bounce back against a game Widnes side. As such, Cowan will be thrown straight into the fire and the hope will be that he can help to turn their form around.

Kyle Eastmond hails St Helens youngster

“He’s a very, very good young player in terms of the way he competes,” Eastmond said on Cowan. “He’s tough, and he can do a bit of everything – if you want him to do the tough stuff, he’ll do that, and if you want him to play with the ball, he understands the game enough to execute.

“I’ve watched a few of his games, and I’ve watched him train at Saints and he’s been impressive. And by all accounts, he’s the right type of person as well and we appreciate that.

“I spoke to a few guys within the system there as well as Wello and they’ve all spoken really highly of him. I personally know what it takes to come through that system and the guys I spoke to couldn’t have given a better reference really.”

“Leon is somebody they respect and think highly of and that obviously means a lot. It’s good to have him here and we’ll look after him. He’ll get an opportunity to pull on the shirt at Halifax, there comes a time in your development where you need to play consistently as there nothing like it to replicate the experience.

“So hopefully we can help him and when he gets that opportunity within our squad, he’ll come in and do what he does and enjoy it. We look forward to it.”