Leigh Leopards coach issues horror injury update as ELEVEN players sidelined

Leigh Leopards’ squad has been decimated on the eve of the new Super League season, with head coach Adrian Lam confirming that ELEVEN players are currently sidelined.

The Leopards, 2023 winners of the Challenge Cup, travel to Championship outfit North Wales Crusaders in the Third Round of the competition on Saturday evening and have only named a 20-man squad for that game.

Leigh were already without a handful of their squad heading into last weekend’s pre-season friendly away against fellow Super League side Warrington Wolves.

And having lost four more of his squad to injury in that game, boss Lam now has a pretty thin roster to choose from.

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‘Of our 30-man squad, there are 11 unavailable and only 19 available’

Speaking at the Super League season launch in Manchester on Wednesday afternoon, the Papua New Guinean made no secret of the problems the Leopards are experiencing.

Ten of the 11 players unavailable are injury-related, as he explained: “(The Warrington friendly) ended up being a bit of a nightmare for us because we got a couple of injuries and a couple of HIAs, so that wasn’t ideal for us.

“We’ve only got 19 to choose from for this week, there are ten players out.

“It’s a bit of a banana skin-game, and I’m a bit nervous about it to be honest with you, but the preparation is the main focus for us.

“We need to make sure we go there with the right attitude, it’s going to be a sh*t fight, and we’re prepared for that.

“It gives players that wouldn’t have played an opportunity to play. The ten that are out are genuinely out, I’m not picking them because I can’t.

“Of our 30-man squad, there are 11 unavailable and only 19 available. One of the players is not injured, but he’s not coming into consideration. The others are injured.”

Leigh Leopards coach issues horror injury update as ELEVEN players sidelined

Prop Robbie Mulhern was not involved against Warrington due to a calf strain, and is still a doubt for this weekend’s cup game despite having been named in Leigh‘s 20-man squad.

Lam detailed: “Robbie is a 50/50 at the moment for Round 1, but for this week as well. We’re pushing him hard to try and be a part of this week.

“Umyla (Hanley) has a bit of a Grade 1 A/C joint damage, so that can be anywhere between one-to-three weeks. We’ve got to manage that week-by-week now. A needle is what’s usually used for that.

“Liam Horne failed a HIA, Joe Ofahengaue passed his HIA in the dressing room but then had concussion and dizziness post-match, so that ruled him out by HIA via protocol.

“He got three teeth knocked out as well! Two that were dentures previously, and one good tooth. He wasn’t in a good way.

“Matt Davis had a bit of infection around the gash on his leg. If this was the Grand Final. we’d consider him for selection this week, but the gash is massive and he’s likely to be out with that.

“Then there’s Aaron Pene, David Armstrong, Isaac Liu, Kavan Rothwell (all out).

“David is now a Round 8 return, he got a setback. He’s running with the team at the moment, but there’s still a long way to go.

“It can be a hard place to be in because you feel like you’re not part of the team, so we’ve worked hard to make sure he’s still involved in everything that we’re doing.

“The (Warrington) friendly has really set us back a couple of weeks because of the injuries. That’s going to mess up our momentum in the first three or four rounds (of the new Super League season).”

Leigh’s Super League campaign begins at home against Leeds Rhinos on February 13.