Leigh Leopards down to last 18 players after two more stars ruled out ‘long-term’

Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam has hinted he may only be able to name an 18-man squad for next weekend’s trip to Wakefield Trinity after losing two more players long-term on Saturday.

The Leopards progressed through to the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup after a hard-earned 16-6 victory over Hull FC, which was arguably all the more impressive given the injury crisis Leigh are enduring in the early stages of 2026.

Leigh are without a whole host of key players including fullbacks David Armstrong and Bailey Hodgson, centre Umyla Hanley and star hooker Edwin Ipape.

And both Keanan Brand and Louis Brogan look set to be added to the list for the foreseeable future after both copped injury blows on Saturday afternoon.

Should forward Matt Davis recover from the concussion symptoms which kept him sidelined at the weekend, he would hand the Leopards at least one injury boost. But with Davis, Lam believes he still will only be able to name an 18-man squad for that game – which would leave Leigh down to their last 17 if Davis doesn’t make it.

Lam said of Brand and Brogan: “We’ve had another two today which are long-term.

“It’s not ideal. I only had 19 players to pick from this week as well, so it’s going to be a tough week next week for us to field that team because there’s no one coming back, it’s only really Matt Davis that is available.”

The Leopards coach conceded he isn’t even sure whether he will get to next Friday’s trip to Trinity with the capability of naming a full match-day 17 as it stands.

He said: “I’m not sure if we can can together a squad of 19 next week. I think that makes it 13 injured out of the squad of 30, so it’s down to the bare 17 but we’ve got to go to Wakefield and find a way to win.

“It’s a six-day turnaround, Wakey are on a high and I don’t know if I’ll have enough players to choose in my 17 but we’ll pick a team that is good enough to go up there and win, and we have to win.”