Leigh Leopards set for big boost in Salford Red Devils clash: ‘He has been awesome for us this year’
Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam is hopeful of welcoming back in-form prop Robbie Mulhern back for their clash against Salford Red Devils.
Mulhern has been one of the in-form front-rowers in Super League this season, playing huge minutes in the majority of his 19 appearances.
The Ireland international missed last week’s win at Castleford, but Lam is hopeful of him returning on Sunday against Salford.
“We’ll get him right up to kick-off to be right,” Lam told Love Rugby League.
“It’s good news for the club, our team and fans I guess.
“Robbie has been awesome for us this year and has certainly played a massive role and part of where we have got to as a group.
“Welcoming him back this week will be fantastic for the side.”
Star hooker Edwin Ipape came off in the second half of last Friday’s 34-16 win over Castleford, but the Papua New Guinea international will be good to go this week.
“When we made the change last week we were up by a decent score so it was just precautionary for him and he’ll be back in the side as well,” Lam added.
Leigh Leopards boss previews Salford Red Devils clash
The Leopards are flying high in the Super League table, currently sitting second having won 12 of their 18 matches this season.
Leigh, who have a Challenge Cup semi-final on the horizon against St Helens, make the short trip to the Salford Stadium in Round 19 of Super League on Sunday afternoon.
The Leopards have lost twice to Salford this season – both at home – but Lam believes his side have come on leaps and bounds those early rounds of the campaign.
Lam said: “We got them the first game of the season which wasn’t ideal and not too many games after tha so I’d like to think we are a different team than what we were then.
“Having said that, I think we’ve improved in all areas but I think they have as well.
“It’ll be a difficult challenge for us to go to Salford in an away game, it’s one of five or six matches away from home that we’ve got but it’s certainly a really important part of the season for us and where we sit on the table.
“It’s going to be a big weekend where I think all of the top six play each other, so there’ll certainly be a break between teams whoever can get a win this weekend.
“I think we’re a different team than what we were at the start of the season, hopefully you can see that in our performance on Sunday”
“I know they are a team that move the ball a fair bit so I hope that we’ve changed with our preparation and the way we are looking towards competing in this game in certain areas and dominating in certain areas.
“They are a good side with good players. They are a team that played in a semi-final last year so they have a lot of experience together so we’ve got to make sure we manage this 80 minutes the way we want to.”
The Leopards face the Red Devils at the Salford Stadium on Sunday, 3pm kick-off.
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