Leigh star reveals how he almost walked away from rugby before Leopards lifeline as Wigan woes explained

Umyla Hanley has revealed he was 48 hours away from giving up on a rugby league career and heading for the building site before Leigh Leopards came calling.

A product of Wigan’s youth setup, Hanley made 11 senior appearances for the Warriors: though all bar one of those came during Adrian Lam’s time in charge.

Lam departed at the end of the 2021 campaign and the youngster went on to spend the majority of the following year out on loan at Newcastle Thunder before being released by Wigan.

Falling out of love with the game, that could well have been the last we heard of him had it not been for a phone call from Lam after he had guided Leigh back to the promised land of Super League.

Leigh star opens up on Leopards lifeline as brutally honest career admission made

Three seasons on from that Wigan exit, Hanley has been named in the Super League Dream Team after scoring 12 tries in 22 appearances for the Leopards, emerging as one of the key figures in their side.

Speaking at the Dream Team launch event on Monday, he recalled: “I didn’t really want to play any more (in 2022).

“I didn’t feel like I had a place at Wigan and there’s no problem with that because it happens, but I was just young and I wanted to play all the time.

“I was going to go on site on the Monday working with a few of my mates, but I was lucky enough to get a call from Leigh and they signed me.

“I’d probably still be working on site now if I didn’t get that call, so it’s obviously a really good thing that the call came.”

Head coach Lam eased Hanley into life at the top level as he joined Leigh, playing him just twice in 2023 alongside a loan stint at Rochdale Hornets.

But following a monstrous pre-season at the start of 2024, the centre made it into his 13, and hasn’t looked back since.

The Papua New Guinean said: “I remember that phone call on a Saturday morning.

“He told me that he’d bought a hi-vis and some steel toecap boots ready to go working on a construction site on the Monday.

“It’s a sliding doors moment, but from that moment he got that phone call, what he’s done for us has been absolutely sensational.

“I challenge anyone to be as competitive as he is in everything that he does, at training and in the game. It’s because he’s got that mentality that he’s got the success he’s deserved.

“He’s had an incredible season and the way he’s developed has been inspirational.”