Leigh Leopards lose key duo ahead of Hull KR clash as mixed injury update delivered

Leigh Leopards are set to be without both Josh Charnley and Lachlan Lam for their trip to Hull KR, with the pair having suffered deep lacerations last weekend which are yet to heal.

As the Leopards recorded their sixth victory in seven games last Sunday afternoon with a 38-12 win at Bradford, both winger Charnley and half-back Lam were forced off late on.

Post-match, it emerged that both had been cut open by the boots of other players at Odsal, and required stitches.

Charnley, who had become Super League‘s all-time top try-scorer with a hat-trick, didn’t think the gash would cause him any trouble long-term.

But due to such a short turnaround, both he and Lam won’t feature at Craven Park.

Leigh lose key duo ahead of Hull KR clash

Head coach Adrian Lam confirmed the news of the injury blows in his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon.

The Leopards boss explained: “Both are probably going to miss the game. We’ll see how they pull up overnight tonight, but there’s a real chance of them not playing.

“They’ve both had around ten stitches, and if they land on it, it’s just going to pop back open.

“We’ve got to make a decision on whether we risk that on a five-day turnaround.

“It’d be different tif we had a longer turnaround, but it’s pretty fresh, so unfortunately, it’s one of those where you don’t have one for a couple of years and then you get two in one game.

“Both want to play, it’s just whether or not it’s the right thing to do. They could potentially get infection and bust it back open.

“The smart thing to do on a five-day turnaround is not to risk that, so that’s where we’re at.

“If it was a final, they’d both be playing. But because of our current situation with so many injuries, it’s a week where the decision is made for us.

“It’s not ideal, but we’ll power on.”

Leopards’ injury boosts as backline re-jigged

The news of Charnley and Lam’s absences comes at the end of a week which also saw Jack Hughes banned for three games for making contact with a player who may be injured.

Hughes had been playing centre due to both Umyla Hanley and Tesi Niu being unavailable, but positively, both of those are set to return on Friday night.

Providing an explanation of what his backline may look like, Lam said: “We should probably get Umyla and Tesi back into that starting 13.

“Those two are expected to be back, there’ll be a bit of a shuffle there.

“Someone needs to go from the centres on to the wing.

“It probably gives Bailey Hodgson a chance on either the left or the right wing with Innes Senior.

“That’s how it looks like we’re lining up at the moment.”