Adrian Lam dismisses talk of Joe Mellor departure from Leigh
Leigh head coach Adrian Lam has spoken to Love Rugby League, dismissing claims that Joe Mellor could be on his way back to Super League.
Mellor, 31, played for the Centurions in Super League last year. One of the few in the squad to remain post-relegation, Mellor also has top flight experience with Wigan, Widnes, and Toronto.
But after a surprising link emerged with a move to Super League leaders St Helens, Lam wasn’t worried.
“It’s not even something that I want to talk about because I haven’t heard anything of the like,” said Papua New Guinean Lam.
“He’s doing great here for us, and he’s got history here with his father [Sean, who also played for the club].
“He’s enjoying himself here and he’s one of our co-captains, so I haven’t heard anything. As far as I’m concerned, that’s not the case.”
The links to Saints have been enhanced in the last few weeks due to Mellor’s absence for Leigh.
He has missed their wins over Barrow and Halifax, last appearing in their 1895 Cup final win on May 28. It’s again Featherstone Rovers who the Leythers face next, with Lam confirming he may be back in contention.
“Joe limped through the whole of the second half at Tottenham because he got a really bad blow to his right thigh,” added Lam
“He’s not recovered from that straight away as well as what we thought he would’ve done and that’s why he missed the two games.
“He’s 50/50 for this week and we’ll give him as much time as we can up until game day to make sure that he’s right.”
No Movement on Charnley
Lam also told Love Rugby League that the club have not taken any steps forward in their pursuit of Josh Charnley.
The winger, 30, is out of contract at Warrington at the end of this season. He has already fallen out of contention there with Leigh reportedly ready to snap him up.
“He was a player that I said we had an interest in, and we’re going through the process.
“It’s a long process whether it be him that we’re looking at or someone else, so it’s a week-to-week proposition at the moment.”
Leigh host Featherstone on Monday night as the Championship’s top two go toe-to-toe. The Centurions head in second, with Brian McDermott’s Rovers ahead by a single point.
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