Leigh Leopards boss’ classy words on Leeds Rhinos as Jake Connor absence played down

Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam believes Leeds are genuine title contenders this year, and has downplayed the Rhinos’ loss of Jake Connor for the pair’s Super League opener on Friday night.

Both Leigh and Leeds finished inside the top six last year, with the Leopards beaten at the semi-final stage of the play-offs by Wigan Warriors and the Rhinos dumped out the week prior in an eliminator at home by St Helens.

It was only a slip-up late on in the season from Leeds at home against Catalans Dragons which allowed Lam’s side to steal a march and take third spot though, with Brad Arthur’s men ending up fourth.

Alongside Hull FC, the Rhinos were one of only two clubs Leigh failed to beat at least once in Super League over the course of the 2025 campaign.

And with 2026 upon us, Leopards head coach Lam has made no secret of his high estimations of Leeds.

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‘They’re in with a genuine chance of being at Old Trafford in October’

Arthur’s side visit the Leopards’ Den on Friday night for a Round 1 clash, and will be without a number of their key men through injury, including reigning Man of Steel Jake Connor.

Lam though is expecting, and awaiting, a stern challenge. Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, the Leopards boss said: “I respect them as a team and as a club, they’re in with a genuine chance of being at Old Trafford in October.

“I felt that way last year as well and they’ve recruited really well, too. There’s a lot of danger. Regardless of whether (Jake) Connor plays or not, Leeds have still got some great players.

“They’ve got some good young kids coming in that will be excited and will bring enthusiasm.

“We’ve got to go as strong as we possibly can. I don’t really want to play anyone that’s a risk or a 50/50 on the negative side. We can’t worry about the Leeds team and who’s in or who’s out.”

Leigh were beaten 48-30 at Headingley by Leeds last June, and then lost out 22-14 to the Rhinos on home soil in August. Across those two games, despite the end results, Leopards winger Keanan Brand grabbed five tries.

Lam continued: “We’ve just got to find a way to win, it doesn’t matter if it’s by one point or by 20 points tomorrow night.

“We know it’s going to be really difficult, regardless of who Leeds bring along here to play.

“It’s going to be a tough game and I think it’s going to go down to the last ten or 15 minutes, and we’re prepared for that.

“We’ve trained for that, so fingers crossed we get the result we deserve.”