Owen Trout’s Leigh Leopards future explained as NRL suitors emerge

The future of Owen Trout has taken a dramatic turn, with the NRL now an increasingly plausible destination for the Leigh Leopards star.

The off-contract forward has been one of the most in-demand players on the open market since discussions for 2027 began, with a plethora of Super League clubs interested in signing him ahead of next year.

It appeared that a new deal at Leigh was on the agenda, in fact, Love Rugby League sources had indicated that a new contract had been agreed.

But, as reported on Tuesday, his future now appears to have taken a turn, with overseas clubs now upping the ante in their attempts to sign the England representative moving forward.

As was reported last week, the deal that Trout had agreed to featured NRL get-out clauses, with the 26-year-old harbouring ambitions to play down under in the future.

But with overseas clubs now stepping forward and looking to recruit the forward as early as next season, there may now well be no need for that deal to be locked in.

Losing Trout would be a huge blow for the Leopards. They are at risk of losing some high-profile talent at the end of the season, with Robbie Mulhern, Bailey Hodgson and Isaac Liu also now free to speak to rival clubs heading into next year. They have done a deal to retain Umyla Hanley, who has already signed a new contract with the club.

But with the reality of Trout departing now growing unexpectedly, the Leopards are tasked with a situation of having to replace a player who has become an integral part of their squad after an exceptional 2025 campaign which culminated in him being selected for England’s opening Test match against Australia in the Ashes series.

His future is set to be resolved in the coming days.