Leigh coach’s brutally honest assessment of sluggish start to 2026 as cup demand made

Leigh boss Adrian Lam insists his injury-hit Leopards squad can still deliver much better than they have thus far in 2026, admitting he feels ‘let down’ by what he has seen this season and demanding improvement.

The Leopards sit second-bottom of Super League seven rounds in having won just two games – beating an understrength Leeds Rhinos side at home in Round 1 and then newly-promoted Toulouse Olympique in Golden Point extra time last month.

Only points difference keeps them from being the division’s basement boys, even after last weekend’s 42-6 thumping at Warrington Wolves, with Castleford Tigers propping up the ladder.

So far this year, the one saving grace for Lam’s side has been their run to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals: with another trip to Warrington coming up this weekend.

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‘Even though we’ve got a lot of players out, I feel that the players that are pulling on that jersey have let us down a bit’

Leigh make the trip to the Halliwell Jones Stadium still hamstrung by an injury crisis, but Lam refuses to use that as an excuse for some of the things he has seen from his team this term.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon, he said: “We’re very disappointed with the way we played last week, and hopefully there’s a better response.

“We can control a lot of our actions that we did or didn’t do last Saturday, so this will be an opportunity to turn that around.

“Every week is important to us because it’s about our standards as a club and our DNA.

“We want to be performing a lot better than we have, and even though we’ve got a lot of players out, I feel that the players that are pulling on that jersey have let us down a bit.

“I’ve questioned that and we need a better response this week from the 17 that pull the jersey on.

“I don’t mind that the same group of players from last week get an opportunity (to put things right), because we were disappointing.

“We need to be completely different to what we were seven days ago when we turn up this Saturday.”

‘It usually takes a remarkable win along the way to give them that kickstart or that boost of confidence. I feel that’s what we need’

Last weekend’s heavy defeat to Wire was the second time Leigh have shipped 40+ points in a game this year having also been thumped 54-0 at Wigan Warriors back in February.

Their other three defeats this term though have all been by a six-point margin or fewer.

On the dire run of results, Lam continued: “It knocks your confidence a little bit and I see that first-hand.

“There are still some quality players in our squad, but with the losses and players pulling out just before kick-off, it certainly knocks confidence.

“We’ve got to find a way to come out on top of that, we’ve done it in the past and we’ll do it again. I’m confident we can do that, and we get another chance this week.

“In the squad of 30 players, there are some great players, some great leaders and a lot of experience. I’ve got to rely on them, coach a bit smarter and tougher and keep driving the players.

“I know that will come, but it usually takes a remarkable win along the way to give them that kickstart or that boost of confidence. I feel that’s what we need at the moment.

“There’s no connection there at the moment… (Lachlan) Lam and (Adam) Cook haven’t been connecting quite well with (Gareth) O’Brien. We’ve certainly missed Edwin (Ipape) through the middle. We’re trying to build those combinations every week.”