Leigh Leopards coach reveals injury blow as full squad update provided ahead of Huddersfield Giants clash

Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has confirmed Ethan O’Neill has fractured his cheekbone and will be sidelined for at least three weeks, but David Armstrong could return on Thursday night at Huddersfield Giants.

O’Neill – who is the son of former Super League ace Julian – arrived at Leigh ahead of 2025 and has been among the Leopards’ standout players so far this season.

The 26-year-old was clobbered in the face accidentally by team-mate Edwin Ipape during the early stages of last Thursday night’s 26-12 defeat at home against Hull FC.

And though he managed to return to the field during that game, the incident has left him needing surgery.

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Leigh Leopards coach reveals Ethan O’Neill injury blow with David Armstrong boost teased

Lam‘s side travel to Huddersfield in the opening game of Round 13 on Thursday night, and the Papua New Guinean held his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

He explained: “There are a couple of small fracures in there (O’Neill’s cheekbone), but it’s one of those that’s about a three-weeker.

“He kept playing in the last 15 minutes of the first half and the whole of the second half, so you can get by with it.

“It is an operation, but it’s a minor one, so he should be back in three-to-four weeks.”

Elsewhere, star off-season recruit Armstrong has featured just once since mid-April through a combination of quad and ACL-related issues.

That sole appearance came in Leigh’s Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Warrington Wolves on May 11, but Lam has now hinted that he could be involved against Huddersfield.

The Leopards head coach said: “He (Armstrong) has trained most of the week, but he’s only done parts of the sessions.

“We’ll make a decision on the morning of the game tomorrow.

“Fingers crossed, he needs to get back in there and build those repetitions with the group to (help us) be the team we want to be.

“I’ve not settled with the squad yet. The starting team has (been decided), but certainly not the bench.

“We’ll work that out in the morning.”

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Full squad update provided ahead of Huddersfield Giants clash

Half-back Gareth O’Brien hasn’t been named in Lam’s 21-man squad as he continues to recover from the latest in a lengthy list of failed HIAs, suffered against Wigan Warriors on May 16.

But, there is positive news concerning the veteran playmaker, as Lam detailed: “He’s not in this week and then we’ve got no game for a couple of weeks because of the Challenge Cup final.

“We’re hoping that he’s back for the Wakefield game after that, but if not, the Catalans game the week after in the worst case.

“He’s got some downtime, which is much-needed, but we’ve missed him and it shows how important his role is within our team.

“Ben McNamara is going to be named in that half spot again this week and he wants to play as soon as he can again to move on from the performance last week, along with a lot of them or all of them.”

The Leopards sit 4th on the Super League ladder ahead of their visit to Huddersfield, but have lost each of their last three games across all competitions.

Having teased that Frankie Halton is likely to return, on his squad, Lam explained: “We’ve got to make a decision on who plays in that back-row, whether it’s Jack Hughes, Owen Trout, Andy Badrock or if we bring in someone like (Louis) Brogan.

“Do we keep (Josh) Charnley on the bench or do we start (Darnell) McIntosh or do we not choose Charnley at all?

“Where do we bring Davey Armstrong back in if he’s 100% fit? Where do we then fit Bailey Hodgson? The list goes on.

“Every player in the backline between one and six has had at least four-to-six weeks off in the season, so we haven’t been able to build momentum.

“We need some time together. Robbie Mulhern has had time off, Edwin Ipape’s been injured at times. Frankie Halton has been injured and now Ethan O’Neill is.

“It hasn’t been smooth sailing, but we’ve got to get through this tough period and get some confidence and trust back.”

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