Leigh player ratings in Wakefield defeat with 5s aplenty as losing run continues

Leigh have now lost four Super League games on the spin after being beaten 18-14 away at Wakefield Trinity on Friday night.

Live from the press box at Belle Vue, these are our Leopards ratings…

Gareth O’Brien – 6

It was good stuff throughout the evening for try-scorer O’Brien, until it came to his involvement in Jayden Myers’ early second half try. Coming for a high bomb from Caius Faatili (yes, you read that right) and getting caught in no man’s land was not his finest moment. Forced off for a HIA just before the hour-mark and passed, fortunately.

Innes Senior – 6

It was a mixed night for Senior, too. He started off well with the ball in hand and pulled off a great try-saver on Myers midway through the first half. But in the second half, he was partly at fault for Myers’ early try after O’Brien’s error and never really impacted things offensively.

Tesi Niu – 5

Niu didn’t win his battles on either side of the ball, and was guilty of a knock-on which passed up a gilt-edged chance just before half-time. Had that ended in a try, it’s a different game.

Jack Hughes – 5

Veteran utility Hughes hadn’t started a game at centre before tonight since 2021, and we’re not sure he’ll want to be thrust in there again. Starting well and being held up over the line midway through the first half, his night got worse as it progressed, and his yellow card 15 minutes from time for pulling back a Trinity man to prevent a try was the low point.

Josh Charnley – 6

Charnley left his mark on the game with a consolation try, scoring with virtually his only real chance of the game. Leigh have to get him involved more.

Adam Cook – 5

We keep expecting Cook to start showing us the player Leigh brought over from Down Under and created huge hype around, but another game has been and gone without that happening. A poor pass was intercepted by Tom Johnstone in the first half, summing things up. Not aiding his cause, he converted just one of the Leopards’ three tries.

Lachlan Lam – 5

Things didn’t go Lam’s way tonight, and he allowed it to show as his frustrations boiled over on a couple of occasions. His high shot gave Wakefield the penalty to go 8-0 up. Was forced into full-back while O’Brien was off the field for his HIA.

Owen Trout – 6

A quiet night for Trout, who went about his business relatively quietly during both of his stints.

Ben McNamara – 4

McNamara started at hooker, and didn’t impact the game anywhere near as much as is required when you’re at nine. He’s far from on his own in this, but improvement needed.

Robbie Mulhern – 6

Mulhern was among the best in Leigh’s pack on the night, enjoying a couple of notable strong carries. He was partly at fault for Jazz Tevaga’s opening try though, and looked to be carrying a knock to his arm in the second half.

Frankie Halton – 7

A pretty strong showing from Halton, and the performance we’ve come to expect from him in terms of consistency. A HUGE shot on Jack Sinfield early on set the tone for his individual display, and was denied a try on the hour-mark for a knock-on by one of his team-mates in the build-up.

Jacob Alick-Wiencke – 6

A marked improvement from Alick-Wiencke, who crashed over for his first Leigh try in the last minute having taken a kick from Lam in the air, but there are still plenty of gears for him to go through to reach top level, you feel.

Isaac Liu – 7

This was far from Liu’s finest showing, but the veteran missed just eight minutes of the 80 again in a mammoth effort. Whether he should be having to do those big minutes as often as he is currently is another question. Alongside Mulhern, won’t reflect fondly on his involvement in Tevaga’s opener under the sticks.

Matt Davis (Interchange) – 5

Good to see Davis back having missed a couple of weeks with concussion symptoms, though he wasn’t his usual rip-roaring self at Belle Vue. Within a few minutes of coming on, he’d given away two penalties. Around a 40-minute stint across the two halves.

Liam Horne (Interchange) – 7.5

We’ve noted Horne’s poor impact off the bench this season, so it’s only fair we give him the credit he deserves here. Within a few minutes of entering the field, he’d forced two knock-ons – and the first of those ended in O’Brien’s try. We’re not sure how he didn’t score in the second 40 out of dummy-half, but we’ll put it down to good defence from Trinity.

We don’t usually do halves, but an eight felt too generous. Forgive us.

Louis Brogan (Interchange) – 5

Brogan didn’t quite have the impact Adrian Lam would have hoped for when he sent him on in the second half, but being flattened by Vagana with his first involvement after a bit of a hospital ball won’t have helped.

Ryan Brown (Interchange) – N/A

Young forward Brown only entered the action for the last few minutes.