COUGARS favourite James Feather has made a heartfelt apology to his home-town club, admitting he made a mistake in pursuing a move.

The Keighley stalwart confirmed he now wants to stay at Cougar Park and hopes Hunslet, whom he agreed to join last month, will cancel his contract.

‘Buster’, as he is known to fans, revealed his situation had left him unwell and that he had even seen a Rugby Football League player welfare therapist.

He said: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the reaction since it came out I was leaving. I’ve been here a long time and you can lose sight of all the love and support which is here at Cougars.

“I’ve had about 400 emails, messages and cards from people saying they’ll miss me.

“I love the club and they are all I’ve known. I want to apologise to the coaching staff, Paul March and Gary Fawcett, who have been really good to me.

“Paul didn’t have the best of me last season due to my injury and I feel like I let him down. He’s a good young coach and I’m thankful for him for opening the door for me to come back and I want to give him 110 per cent next year. He never wanted me to leave but I kept it to myself.”

When Feather announced his shock exit he said he had not been happy at the club for 12 months. But the hooker revealed that he now feels that was because he had found it tough to bounce back from a 12-week layoff due to a torn muscle in his groin area.

He said: “Talking with the player welfare therapist has made me see things a lot clearer. I have never been properly injured before and normally played every game. But this injury was slow healing and meant I had to have complete rest for 12 weeks. I couldn’t do any training – upper or lower body.

“It affected me mentally and it was hard to get fit afterwards. I had a poor season but that can happen to any player.”

Feather has apologised to Hunslet and requested to be released from his contract there but the Leeds club said they were still expecting him to report for pre-season training on November 18.

Hawks director of rugby Darren Williams said: "James thinks he's made a mistake in leaving Keighley, which has now sunk in.

"I have replied to Buster that he has signed a legally binding agreement and that he needs to come and give it a go.

"I said if Keighley are interested in having him back then they need to make an official approach, which they haven't yet done."

Feather is understood to have consulted the RFL about having his contract declared null and void, with Cougars chairman Gary Fawcett confirming the matter was being left in their hands.