Leigh coach delivers Kai O’Donnell transfer latest following star’s NRL selection

Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has played down the club’s pursuit of Kai O’Donnell, insisting there were ‘no plans to bring him over this week or next week’.

The Leopards’ hopes of re-signing Australian ace O’Donnell have been no secret for a number of months.

Initially, it was thought they hoped to land him for 2027: but earlier this week, Love Rugby League revealed the deal was all but done to take him back to the Leopards’ Den with immediate effect.

O’Donnell though has now been named in North Queensland Cowboys’ first-grade side for the first time since April, and will start in the back-row this weekend as they take on Gold Coast Titans.

‘It’s a very difficult one to follow through on… we had no plans on bringing him over this week or next week’

The Cowboys are currently without one of their first-choice back-rowers in the shape of Jeremiah Nanai through a hamstring injury, which is expected to see him sidelined for just a couple of weeks.

Love Rugby League understands Leigh’s move to re-sign O’Donnell is still expected to go ahead before the Super League transfer deadline later this month.

But in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s home clash against York Knights, head coach Lam was quick to play things down.

The Papua New Guinean said: “Kai’s name keeps coming up and if you look, he’s playing for the Cowboys this week, so it’s a very difficult one to follow through on at this point.

“He’s one we respect here and me as a coach, I’ve always said that if we could ever bring someone back, it would be someone like Kai because he’s the ultimate professional.

“At this moment in time, that’s not going ahead. But if there’s an opportunity there, I will reach out and talk to him.”

Having joined the club when they were in the Championship in 2022, Brisbane-born O’Donnell was among the shining stars in Leigh’s side as they returned to Super League and won the Challenge Cup in 2023.

The 27-year-old departed for the Cowboys at the end of the following season having only previously played four games at NRL level for Canberra Raiders, but has struggled to ever really nail down a first-grade spot in the last 18 months or so.

Talk of his return has caught fire again following Leigh’s announcement of Aaron Pene’s immediate release on Monday.

Lam continued: “There are several names that are available at this point, we’ve got to filter through those and make sure we get the right ones.

“It’s not by coincidence, we had no plans on bringing him over this week or next week.

“We haven’t talked to Kai in-depth about what that opportunity is at the moment, because he’s contracted there for next year.”