Leigh Leopards player ratings in York win as veteran glitters to earn 9

Leigh got their third Super League win of the season, beating York Knights 18-6 away from home on Friday night.

Live from the press box at the LNER Community Stadium, these are our Leopards ratings…

Gareth O’Brien – 9

A really good showing from O’Brien barring his two knock-ons in quick succession at the end of the first half. Executed a ‘show and go’ perfectly to score the opening try, drew the late hit for the penalty which put Leigh back in front before the break and then pulled off three try-savers in the second half. The Leopards could do with keeping him in their team, somehow.

AJ Towse – 7

Towse came in for his first game of the year, and did so against his former employers. Back on his old stomping ground, he stood up well in defence, and was only denied a try by a great tackle as he dived for the corner midway through the second half.

Innes Senior – 7

Senior’s 150th career appearance saw him shift into the centres. He’d only started there 14 times in his career before tonight, and not since a Challenge Cup tie for Huddersfield at Barrow back in 2022! Stood up very well in defence, Leigh may have unlocked another option here.

Jack Hughes – 6

Hughes shifted back into the centres again. It’s far from his preferred – or best – position, but he did what he had to do and got an assist having teed up Josh Charnley just before the hour-mark.

Josh Charnley – 7

Charnley did the hard yards out of backfield well early on, showing all his experience and earned a goal-line drop-out through a superb kick chase in the second half before scoring his try. The one negative his high shot in the first half from which York levelled things up on the scoreboard.

Adam Cook – 7

This was a much better showing from Cook than we’ve seen for much of 2026 so far, there’s no doubt about that. The Australian was instrumental in the second half and ended the evening three from four with the boot, including a penalty, which is a vast improvement from recent weeks.

Lachlan Lam – 7

York did well to largely stifle Lam, but he still had his moments in the sun during the clash as his quality shone through. Unfortunate to have a try of his own disallowed by the video referee midway through the first half, though ultimately the correct decision.

Joe Ofahengaue – 9

Ofahengaue spent about 14 minutes off the field all told, and boy have Leigh missed him. An enormous tackle count, and an enormous amount of work from the big man on the whole. A huge threat making bulldozing runs with the ball in hand, the only down point tonight being his high shot late on in the first half.

Edwin Ipape – 5

A much shorter involvement than normal from Ipape, who was withdrawn half-an-hour in and never returned. Darted out of dummy-half a couple of times while he was on the field, but his early exit is the reason for the low score. If it was injury-related, it’s a sickener for the Leopards.

Owen Trout – 6

Trout hasn’t been at his best so far this season, and this was another showing on which there’s plenty to improve, but he still came up with a couple of huge moments including a try-saver on Josh Griffin in the first half.

Frankie Halton – 7

A HUGE defensive effort from Halton, back from his HIA-enforced absence. He’s so often overlooked, but Leigh are a better team with their hometown hero in the side.

Jacob Alick-Wiencke – 7

Alick-Wiencke had been due to start on the bench, but was thrust in to start at the eleventh hour when Robbie Mulhern withdrew in the warm-up. The Papua New Guinea international grew into the game, and in the second half came up with a nice tip pass in the build-up to Charnley’s try as well as crashing through for one of his own. Unfortunate not to get an 8, in truth.

Isaac Liu – 7

We saw some silky hands from Liu early on, and though he faded a little on that front, he did what he’s been doing for Leigh for the last two years – a sterling job. Leopards boss Adrian Lam admitted earlier this week the club are in talks over a contract extension for the veteran, and the sooner that’s done, the better.

Ben McNamara (Interchange) – 6

No real qualms of note with McNamara’s performance, who did what was asked of him in a 25-minute stint either side of half-time.

Louis Brogan (Interchange) – 7

Brogan delivered exactly what was needed from him on both sides of the ball after coming on off the bench. A high tackle count and a couple of tackle bursts going the other way. Played bigger minutes than he has been doing, too.

Ryan Brown (Interchange) – 6

A ten-minute stint in the second half from youngster Brown saw him help to force a knock-on from a York man when Leigh were under big pressure close to their own line.

Liam Horne (Interchange) – 6

Horne had to wait a while to get onto the field, but when he eventually entered the action midway through the second half, he looked lively and stood up well in defence.