Leigh-Wigan off-field feud addressed by Leopards coach ahead of rivals’ latest clash

Leigh boss Adrian Lam has played down the off-field feud between the Leopards and Wigan Warriors, insisting his side must concentrate on executing their gameplan on Thursday night.

The Leopards travel to The Brick Community Stadium, with this their first meeting with Wigan since last year’s play-off semi-final, won 18-6 on home soil by the Warriors.

Back in October, the build-up to that semi-final was clouded by an argument between the two clubs over the away ticket allocation and Leigh supporters seeing tickets cancelled that they had purchased in the home end.

Leopards owner Derek Beaumont was at the heart of that argument, which saw plenty of dirty laundry aired in public, including Wigan stating that he had threatened to pull the side out of the semi-final altogether at one stage.

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‘With it being so early on in the season, it’s about us’

In the run up to Thursday night’s clash, Leigh’s coverage has been minimal: with it appearing that they don’t wish to try and boost the profile of a game being held in their neighbours’ backyard after last October’s events.

Head coach Lam was asked about the seeming feud which has brewed between the pair during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon, but played it down entirely.

He said: “I think with it being so early on in the season, it’s about us, really.

“It’s how we respond to the way that we played against St Helens: we made too many errors, we gave away too many penalties and we never gave ourselves a chance, although we led by eight points and should have gone on to win the game.

“It’s about us this week. All the focus for me is to pick the strongest 17 we have because we’ve got a couple of niggling injuries and from there, take it as it comes.”

Papua New Guinean Lam played for and coached Wigan before landing the Leigh job ahead of the 2022 campaign, and still resides in the borough.

His Leopards side beat the Warriors in two of their three league meetings last term, including an unforgettable 1-0 Golden Point victory in the first game of the season, before losing the play-off semi-final.

He continued: “These are the games that you love being a part of, they’re the ones you miss playing in.

“I still live in the heart of Wigan and a lot of my friends are still Wigan-based, so nothing changes with that.

“The focus coming to Leigh was to build the club up to a position where we were challenging at the very top (of Super League), and we’ve done that.

“We’ve taken a step forward in each of the last two years with progression on the ladder towards being at Old Trafford.

“Both times we’ve been cut short 80 minutes from Old Trafford at the hands of Wigan. We’re heading in the right direction.

The fans love it (playing Wigan), it’s great for the borough, it’s great for the sport and it’s great for Super League.”