Leigh Leopards’ crisis broken down after disastrous start

No side in Super League has had a worse start than Leigh Leopards. The results say so. The league table says so.

Dead-set last after seven rounds, there’s no real way of sugarcoating it, this has been a disastrous start for the Leopards.

Tipped by so many to do well (this writer backed them to end the season in 1st place), it simply has not happened for Leigh. They have scored fewer points than any other side in the competition and only York Knights have conceded more. This isn’t a team that has been unlucky, they have been way off it.

So is it time to hit the emergency button or even write them off? Not yet.

The obvious needs addressing, and that is their injuries. The loss to Warrington saw them without their two starting centres, arguably the competition’s best hooker or either of their two first-choice fullbacks. Throughout the season, they’ve been without plenty of others too. They’ve done it tough, there’s no doubting that.

That said, they weren’t far off full strength when they lost to St Helens in round two, and, to be honest, they were woeful in that game. A week later they were destroyed 54-0 by Wigan Warriors and while injuries hit them during the game, they weren’t particularly patched up. 54-0 will never be good enough.

It will be no coincidence to anyone that Leigh’s form nose-dived once Edwin Ipape was ruled out. He is their star man and they are a shadow of the side they are when he’s on the team sheet. They need him back, and fast.

One man doesn’t fix a team though, and while they are without other top players, they wouldn’t fix up what was dished up against Warrington. They need to be much, much better than they are right now.

The good news? Despite an awful start, they’re only six points off the play-offs with 20 rounds to go. They have been here before too. In 2024, the Leopards won just one of their opening seven Super League games. They made the play-offs and reached the semi-finals. They’ve actually had a better start to this season than that one.

So there is plenty of time to turn things around. But the return of personnel isn’t the only thing that needs fixing up either.

Leigh are expecting to have some of those star players back for their rematch with Warrington next weekend in the Challenge Cup. In that sense, it feels like their season starts now.