Leigh Leopards coach confirms injury blow following Hull KR victory as clear message sent

Adrian Lam insists Leigh must use their win against Hull KR as a springboard for some consistency: but it looks like the Leopards will have to make that happen without Ethan O’Neill over the next few weeks.

Leigh swept aside Super League leaders KR at the Leopards’ Den on Saturday afternoon, racing to a 28-10 victory courtesy of tries from O’Neill, Umyla Hanley, Keanan Brand, Lachlan Lam and Josh Charnley (2).

The success marked their first win against the Robins since the 2023 Challenge Cup final, having gone three meetings without scoring a single point previous to this.

Saturday’s win also came on the back of a home win against second-placed Wigan Warriors, Super League‘s reigning champions.

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Leigh Leopards coach confirms injury blow following Hull KR victory as clear message sent

The only real downside to the day from a Leopards perspective was the injury to O’Neill.

Shortly after scoring the opening try, he knocked on and took a bang to the knee as he did so. Clutching at it instantly, the back-rower battled on through the pain until half-time, but was ultimately forced off.

Post-match, head coach Lam explained why he thinks the Leopards have managed to fly under the radar in 2025 despite sitting 3rd, and gave an update on O’Neill.

He detailed: “I don’t think anyone’s been talking about Leigh. People talk about the fact that they love watching us play or that we’ve got some great players or we attack really well.

“There’s a few things getting thrown out there, but (not much), and that’s because we’ve been inconsistent.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries with our outside-backs in the first half of the season, and that’s only the second time this season where we’ve had the same team back-to-back.

“We haven’t had a run of games together as a group. There’s no Robbie Mulhern, no Aaron Pene, no Davey Armstrong and Ethan O’Neill with his knee now.

“It looks like a medial ligament strain, so we’ll have to see on that.”

If it is a medial ligament strain for O’Neill, it’ll likely be between three and four weeks out of action for the off-season recruit.

Leigh travel to St Helens next Thursday night before a week’s break which precedes a home double against Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos.

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