Leigh coach throws World Cup gauntlet down to Leopards stars as warning fired

Leigh boss Adrian Lam has challenged his Leopards stars to play their way into World Cup selection without allowing this autumn’s showpiece tournament to become a distraction week-on-week.

Utility forward Owen Trout earned his international debut for England during last autumn’s Ashes Series against Australia following an impressive individual campaign.

Trout’s international call-up came at the end of a season in which he had delivered consistently for a Leopards side which finished third in Super League and reached the play-off semi-finals.

Team-mates Robbie Mulhern and Umyla Hanley missed out on selection, but Papua New Guineans Edwin Ipape and Lachlan Lam are all but guaranteed their spots in the Kumuls’ squad.

New recruits Liam Horne and Jacob Alick-Wiencke will hope to line up alongside them as part of Jason Demetriou’s squad.

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Leigh coach Adrian Lam throws World Cup gauntlet down to Leopards stars as warning fired

Since the Leopards’ most recent return to Super League in 2023, their international pedigree has been among the main markers of success.

Head coach Lam doesn’t want that to change, and wants to see as many of his squad as possible involved in this year’s World Cup, which will take place Down Under across Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Speaking about the incentive a World Cup offers to players during Leigh‘s pre-season media day, Lam said: “Players that have played in World Cups before and played international rugby, they’re all excited about that (tournament) coming along.

“But players that are on the fringes of the England team, or even Jacob (Alick-Wiencke) and Liam (Horne) for PNG, there’s certainly a drive for them to be a part of that on a regular basis.

“That hopefully won’t be the focus of this season for the players, it’s about putting the team first.

“But I know that if they do that, those rewards will come, as they’ve done for players like Owen Trout getting into the England team and Umyla Hanley being in the (Super League) Dream Team.”

Lam himself featured in two World Cups as a player for PNG before going on to head up the Kumuls as their coach in both 2008 and 2013.

More recently, he’s tasted World Cup glory with Australia, forming part of Mal Meninga’s coaching team for both the 2017 and 2021 editions.

The 55-year-old added: “Hopefully I’ve got a few players involved in teams there.

“We hope to get one or two into that England squad, I think it’d be a great reward for what we’ve done as a club.”