Leigh Leopards injury latest with star duo set for late fitness tests

Adrian Lam has admitted that he will make a decision on Umyla Hanley and Tesi Niu as late as possible ahead of Leigh Leopards’ trip to Bradford Bulls.

The Leopards head to Odsal looking to move within two points of the play-offs, but could remain without their two strike centres who have been managing respective injuries.

Hanley has been managing a groin strain that saw him miss the win over Castleford Tigers, while Niu has been dealing with a calf strain that has kept him out for over a month.

Lam confirmed both would be available for selection by the time they play Hull KR next week, but face a race against time to be given the all-clear for the trip to West Yorkshire to play a Bradford side that has won four of their six home games since returning to Super League.

Bailey Hodgson has been playing at centre in their absence and when asked if that was likely to continue, Lam said: “Probably.

“We’re getting players back. Especially those two in Umyla Hanley and Tesi Niu. Whether they play this week or the week after that, that’ll be probably a conversation that I’ll have with them on captain’s run on the Saturday. It is a Sunday game, which we don’t play too often at three o’clock as well, which is the old school, the way I grew up playing in Australia.

“But, you know, Bailey Hodgson has been an ever-present for us after missing so many weeks. With Davy Armstrong back. I’ve just got to… It’ll be a tussle there who holds that full-back position as we progress in the second part of the season.

“But, you know, having said that, I play Jack Hughes out of position in that right centre against possibly one of the gun centres in the competition in Castleford’s left centre there. And I thought Jack was… I think Jack got named in the Super League Team of the Week in the centre. So I’ve copped that pretty heavily from him!”

Praise for Jack Hughes

In the absence of Hanley and Niu, Hughes stepped up tremendously as he took on Krystian Mapapalangi, scoring in the process.

His performance earned great praise from Lam, who admitted it had resulted in him getting plenty of grief from the player in the process.

“It was a massive challenge for Jack. It’s a great story there. It’s a massive challenge.

“And he was outstanding. And yeah, so he just talked to me about if there’s any challenge there for him. So it was quite amusing because, I said we need to get around him during the week because he’s going to have his hands full.

“So he ended up tapping me on the shoulder saying, ‘It’s pretty tough, but I think I’ve got the better of him’. That’s all you want to hear, isn’t it? Absolutely. He’s a character as well, Jack.

“The great thing about Jack is you can put him in the front row. He played in the front row the week before and played second row. He’s played halves for us here, now centres. So he’s Mr. Versatile.”