Leigh Leopards coach reveals injury crisis ahead of Magic Weekend as SEVEN stars sidelined

Leigh could be without seven of their regular starters for their Magic Weekend clash against Catalans Dragons, Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has confirmed.

Lam’s side take on Catalans Dragons in the opening match of the 2025 edition of Magic at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Leopards head into the game on the back of a 28-6 win at Salford Red Devils, which was earned without a plethora of their key stars.

Since that victory, the situation has worsened considerably though, and Leigh could look relatively unrecognisable in the North East.

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Leigh Leopards coach reveals injury crisis ahead of Magic Weekend as SEVEN stars sidelined

Papua New Guinean boss Lam revealed the injury crisis during Wednesday afternoon’s pre-match press conference, reeling off a long list of potential absentees, some of which confirmed.

He detailed: “We seem to have had a couple of soft tissue injuries over the last two or three weeks, and it’s been since coming to train on the main pitch here (at the Leopards’ Den).

“There’s a couple that are in doubt, Jack Hughes (is one of them).

“There’s still no Davey Armstrong this week, it’s 50/50 over Umyla Hanley and Tesi Niu, but on top of that, there’s still no Frankie Halton.

“Keanan Brand strained his calf in the warm-up last weekend, so he’s unavailable.

“There’s some doubt over Gaz O’Brien as well, and there might be a lot more changes this week.

“There are a lot of niggling injuries that are going to need one or two weeks (to recover), really.

“We’ve just got to make sure we be professional within our recovery sessions, but also in how we keep working on small injuries.

“We’re working really hard collectively as a group to minimise these soft tissue injuries.”

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David Armstrong suffers injury setback

Star off-season recruit Armstrong was among those to miss last weekend’s win at Salford having been withdrawn at half-time the week prior during Leigh’s home win against Warrington Wolves due to a quad injury.

Lam explained in an interview with the club’s own media team earlier this week that the full-back had suffered a setback in his recovery.

He had originally been expected to return for next weekend’s Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington, so news of a setback sparked concern, and it would appear that concern could well be warranted.

Lam said: “He (Armstrong) will be in doubt for that (semi-final), but that’s a call that we’ll make right up until the end of the week.

“He’s just starting to get back on his feet now, but having said that, Bailey Hodgson has done a really good job for us at full-back.

“Keanan Brand was out last week, and AJ Towse came in and did a good job. Andy Badrock came into the centres (against Salford) and scored two tries.

“The players that are coming in have really stepped up, and I’m pleased the squad have been able to do that.

“It’s important we get as many back as we can this weekend to try and make sure they get that game time in before the Challenge Cup semi.

“We want to pick our strongest team and make sure we maintain that top three spot.”

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