Adrian Lam confirms Leigh’s interest in Josh Charnley

Ben Olawumi
Josh Charnley Warrington Wolves

Leigh coach Adrian Lam has confirmed that the Centurions are in talks with out of contract Warrington winger Josh Charnley.

Winger Charnley, 30, is contracted to Super League outfit Warrington Wolves until the end of the year. Wire boss Daryl Powell has already confirmed that Charnley will leave the club however.

With an immediate return to Super League the target for Leigh, they have already made some impressive acquisitions including Edwin Ipape and Blake Ferguson. Speaking ahead of Thursday’s trip to Barrow, Lam spoke openly about the chase of Charnley.

He told Love Rugby League: “Josh is certainly a player that we’re interested in. Chris Chester is our head of rugby dealing with situations with all of our recruiting.

“We’re definitely having talks with him (Charnley) in the immediate future. He’s someone that we’d like to add to our squad, but so too are all the other players that we think could fit into our squad.

“We’re continually growing and whether it be next week, next month or next year, for us to get to where we want to be. We’ve got to talk to these players. We have to go through the process of where they fit into the group, if they fit in, and where they fit in.

“We’ll go through that process with him as we’ve done with four or five other players in the last couple of weeks.”

Josh Charnley would bring experience to Leigh

Ex-Wigan man Charnley joined Warrington in 2018. To do so, he made the switch back from rugby union with Sale Sharks.

A three-time Grand Final and Challenge Cup winner, Charnley has fallen out of favour this year at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Leigh boss Lam re-enforced exactly why they’re interested in the winger however, saying: “He’s just experienced, he’s an impact player with a lot of power.

“He’s got experience with big games in Super League. He is one of those players you’d love to be part of the group.

“He’s also a well-liked character amongst the members of the group here. He fits our criteria and whether or not it works out, we’ll wait and see.”

Its not yet known whether the Centurions would be signing Charnley for 2023 or beforehand.

PODCAST: Eorl Crabtree dissects Challenge Cup final & predicts successful Huddersfield future