Leigh Leopards coach reveals fresh injury blow following Salford Red Devils victory

Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has confirmed a calf injury resulted in Keanan Brand’s late withdrawal from their 28-6 win at Salford Red Devils on Saturday night.

Outside-back Brand, who has scored six tries in 11 appearances across all competitions this term, had been named in the centres by Lam for the Round 9 clash at the Salford Community Stadium.

But during the warm-up, Brand had to withdraw, so 18th man AJ Towse stepped in to replace him and went on to get his name on the scoresheet.

Towse went on to the wing for the clash against the Red Devils, with Darnell McIntosh asked to move into the centres.

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Leigh Leopards coach reveals fresh injury blow following Salford Red Devils victory

Brand meanwhile joined a whole host of Leopards stars including fellow Ireland international Frankie Halton, prop Aaron Pene and suspended hooker Edwin Ipape on the sidelines.

Post-match, boss Lam revealed the 26-year-old had picked up a calf problem in the warm-up, and provided an issue on some of the other absentees.

He detailed: “He (Brand) has pulled his calf. I’m not sure at what level, whether it’s a tear or a strain. It’s not good, obviously.

“There have been a couple of soft tissue injuries at the club. It’s something we’re trying to address.

“Frankie (Halton) had a lower back issue, but that was precautionary. He probably could have played at a pinch. We made that decision to just rest that, the same (to rest) with Aaron Pene.

“There were a fair few on the sidelines today. We had no Edwin Ipape, Frankie Halton, Tesi Niu, Umyla Hanley, David Armstrong… the list goes on and on.

“Hopefully, most of those guys are back next week. Those that aren’t, hopefully (return) the week after.”

Leigh take on Catalans Dragons at Magic Weekend on May 3 in their next Super League outing before facing Warrington Wolves in the Challenge Cup semi-finals at the Totally Wicked Stadium on May 11.

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