Leigh star Adam Cook explains remarkable turnaround following tough start to life in Super League

Adam Cook praised his ‘support core’ for helping him through a tough start to life at Leigh following the latest in a growing collection of standout showings as the Leopards beat Super League leaders Leeds Rhinos.

Australian half-back Cook was among Leigh’s main recruits ahead of 2026, tipped for big things by head coach Adrian Lam almost immediately after stepping foot off the plane.

Lam admitted it may take his new star playmaker a while to settle into things though, and so it proved, with the first couple of months of the season producing some subpar showings.

But now, the 25-year-old is thriving for a Leopards side that have won 13 of their last 16 games, coming up with their biggest victory yet on Thursday night at Headingley to send a statement to the rest of Super League.

‘It’s not easy coming to the other side of the world and playing… the only person that was going to get it out of me was me’

Queenslander Cook made his NRL debut for Canberra Raiders back in 2020 at full-back: but had to wait until 2024 for his next opportunity at first-grade level.

By the time he departed for Leigh at the end of the 2025 campaign, the half-back had played just eight NRL games in total, and only one of those came last season.

Speaking to LoveRugbyLeague at Headingley, he admitted: “I’ve been finding my feet, it’s not easy coming to the other side of the world and playing.

“I feel like I’ve found my feet now, so I’m happy.

“I’m lucky that I’ve got a good support core around me to help keep me level-headed. Whether things are going good or bad, they get around me, so I knew I had to block it (criticism early on in the season) out.

“”Lammy (Adrian Lam) is good for me, I’m always thanking him when we have meetings for backing me.

“The only person that was going to get it out of me was me, so I put my head down, bum up and worked hard. That’s the only way to get out of a tough spot.”

Leeds victory a big boost for Leigh

Cook’s slow start in a Leigh shirt came alongside a huge injury crisis within the squad, and Lam’s side beat Leeds at home in Round 1 before winning just one of their next six Super League games.

Completing the double over the Rhinos on Thursday night with a 20-16 victory, they became the first side to down Brad Arthur’s side at Headingley in 2026.

Cook enjoyed a starring role, coming up with some moments of magic in attack as well as some huge defensive plays, none more important than his intercept of Brodie Croft’s attempted loop pass late on which looked to have Leeds in a position to at least level things up.

The Australian – who will turn 26 in November – said: “We had a really good week, it was a short turnaround for us so we came here with a clear plan.

“It wasn’t too much on-field work (in the week), it was a lot of meetings, but we knew exactly what we wanted to do and we came here tonight and executed it.

“We knew we needed to have a better second half than we did against Wigan (a few weeks ago when we lost 20-8), that was pretty much the focus after half-time.

“We did that by completing our sets and getting in the grind.

“We were really happy with it.”

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