Top Super League coach tips London to ‘blow away’ Championship as PNG arrivals praised

Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam insists London Broncos will ‘blow away’ the Championship in 2026 given their impressive recruitment from Papua New Guinea.

Lam, himself a Kumuls icon back home, admits he has been hugely impressed by what the Broncos have put together going into next year. They missed out on promotion to Super League through the IMG gradings system but still look set to assemble one of the strongest squads the Championship has ever seen.

Their headline recruits include South Sydney star Siliva Havili and former Kanagaroos international Reagan Campbell-Gillard – but the bulk of their transfers have come from Papua New Guinea.

That is due to the Kumuls head coach, Jason Demetriou, also making the move to London to lead their quest for promotion in 2026. Players including the likes of Morea Morea – who was once a target for Leigh – have joined, as well as fellow PNG internationals Alex Max, Robert Mathias, Jeremiah Simbiken, Epel Kapinas, Gairo Voro and Fin Glare.

And Lam, one of Super League’s top coaches and who himself could play a pivotal role in Papua New Guinea’s future at the highest level in the years to come, admits that he’s delighted to see another club take a punt on so many Kumuls in a way the Leopards have during their recent success, too.

He said: “I think I’ve shown for a while now that Papua New Guinean players are as talented as anyone in the world, they just need an opportunity and to be in a good system, and a bit of loving and support to push them through to where they need to be.

“Edwin Ipape is a classic example of that here. I think there is a million Papua New Guinea players who are talented, and I think London, with these players, will blow away the Championship. I can’t see anyone competing with them there.

“I think they’ll do a really good job, and hopefully they get some competition, because they’ll need that to develop those players.”