Phoenix set to continue his rise at Oldham next year

The full-back was one of Oldham’s most potent threats throughout the 2024 campaign, as evidenced by his being crowned the Betfred League One Young Player of the Year, as well as the club’s own Players’ Player of the Year

He scored 15 tries in 18 appearances and he feels staying with Oldham this year is the best way to achieve his Super League ambitions.

“Next season will help my development massively,” said the 21-year-old. “All I want to do is develop and get better so I can eventually be a Super League regular.

“It was a really good year last season, not just because we had loads of success but because of how close-knit we were as a group.

“They welcomed me in straight away, which made it a lot easier for me to make the adjustment into a new team.”

It is understood Oldham had been working on getting the young full-back back on loan for the past few weeks.

Since his arrival at the club back in March, he quickly became Oldham’s first-choice full-back and cemented himself as a fan favourite thanks to his fast runs and unwavering ability to bypass defenders.

As well as staying on with the Roughyeds, Laulu-Togaga’e has also put pen-to-paper with parent club Hull KR for another year.

Brisbane-born Phoenix, who is the son of Sheffield Eagles legend Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e, was more than happy to link up with head coach Sean Long once again.

“Playing under Longy has been great as he lets me express myself and gives me freedom as a full-back,” he said.

“I thrive under that as he basically lets me do whatever I want within reason. This was probably the first year I’ve played a full season and it really helped me understand the game.

“I had a little quiet patch during the year, especially that first Keighley game where I made a few costly errors.

“I needed an experience like that because I hadn’t played in big games like that before and I felt I finished the season strongly because of that.”