THERE was a huge sigh of relief among the Saints support when Andre Savelio agreed a two-year deal that will take him through to the end of season 2017 – and after Friday night’s display it is not only the fans who are thankful.

The talk around town last month had been that the promising 20-year-old talent, who has designs on the NRL, was heading out of the club, with his hometown Warrington touted as an interested destination.

But the former Latchford Albion junior, who has been at Saints since he was a 14-year-old, opted to remain with the team that had nurtured him and who had stuck with him through what the player himself describes as “dark times”.

And his performances since putting pen to paper have shown real signs of his game ratcheting up to another level, with even the hard-nosed Leeds pack finding him too hot to handle in Friday’s Challenge Cup semi final.

Coach Keiron Cunningham was quick to praise the input of his young prop forward, who has nudged ahead of Grand Final winning youngsters Greg Richards and Luke Thompson in the pack-spot pecking order.

Cunningham said: “Andre was phenomenal against Leeds. That game had been coming for me because he is an ultimate talent.

“He is still learning. I have always said Andre is full of potential – but that is a big word for every rugby player.

“He had so much promise when he started out and it is down to me as a coach to make him fulfil that promise.

“There is still lots more to come from him.

“Andre is a great character and I really enjoy working with him.

“He had his head turned by a few clubs and by Australia but we are thankful that we kept him here.

“The deal was nearly done for him to go somewhere else but it was Andre who came to me and said he really wanted to stay and fight for his place – it was the making of him.

“Since that day he has really kicked on. He has been a regular for us.

“He will definitely be one of our starting front rowers for the future.”

When Savelio first burst into the first team in early 2014, making his debut in the win over Leeds, he had an immediate impact.

He only featured three times last term, but this year we have not just seen a more athletic player, but one who is more team orientated on both sides of the ball.

Cunningham has been delighted with the youngster’s rapid progress from the start of the campaign and hopes that Savelio’s vim, vigour and hunger to run out out at Old Trafford rather than watch from the sidelines, can give Saints a bounce in the big games to come.

“Andre is a natural footballer. He is not like your normal front rower, and enjoys showing us his ball skills in training.

“He is also hitting some form at the minute and I am hopeful that he can help springboard us at the back end of the year,” he said.