2023 Season Preview: Leigh Leopards

Super Leagues newest club Leigh Leopards, will be hoping to become the first newly promoted side to avoid straight relegation since Hull KR in 2018.

Following a full club rebrand over the off-season, the newly named Leopards will now be turning their attentions to the upcoming season, in a bid for Super League survival.

It’s a huge task in rugby league for a promoted side to last more than one year at the highest level. In fact Leigh have spent three seasons in the Super League since its birth in 1996 and in all three of those seasons they were relegated.

They only have 10 Super League victories to their name, two in 2005, six in 2017 and two in 2021. They came close to survival in 2017 however, but lost in the Million Pound Game. When they once again returned for their latest attempt at survival, they had to wait 16 matches for their first win of the season.

However, this year they seem to have grown and built a much more competitive squad on paper. How will they perform on the field? Well, we will soon see, but it is vital that they get off to a good start and don’t let the defeats mount up to a point where they lose confidence, and find themselves cut adrift from the rest of the league.

Previously known as Leigh Centurions, the owners and board felt they needed a full rebrand to mark a new era of hopeful top tier rugby league. The club has received a lot of stick for its identity change, but there’s no doubt that if they avoid the drop in 2023, the new look will be hailed by their fanbase.

So, it’s mostly all change at Leigh as we near the start of the season, the one thing that the club will hope stays the same is their performances on the pitch from last season.

The Leopards had a fantastic 2022 in the Championship, absolutely storming the division as they ran away with the league title, before seeing off Batley Bulldogs in the promotion play-off match. They lost only one game all year, winning 26 of their 27 league games, whilst scoring 1306 points and only conceding 208.

Of course the competition will be much more fierce this season, but no side has entered the league in such great form for a long time if ever. Furthermore, the Leopards have made some smart Winter additions to their squad, they will be very confident of a successful year, and you can’t bet against them with certainty.

Head coach Adrian Lam faced the media last week to answer some questions regarding the places in his team, following a pre-season victory over Leeds Rhinos. He said:

“We’ve shown that we can compete at this level. We have 11 new faces in the group so it was a it like starting again, but we have trained really well.

“I worked really hard to get those players here so I know what there’re about, the fixture was about making sure we all get connected.

“I am really proud of them, we’re going to be a team that can compete.”

Lam added this when asked what the spine of his side would be:

“The selection is a bit of a headache. One spot will be Lachlan, the other is to be fought for, and whether Zak plays at centre or fullback will be decided upon.”

With Lam at the helm they have an excellent manager who’s used to coping under pressure. Plus, he has his son at his disposal in the halfback position, and most Rugby League fans will of heard of the Cleary father-son combination, Lam will be hoping he can also share a great family success story in 2023.

2022 finishing position – 1^st (Championship)

Arrivals;

Gareth O’Brien (Castleford Tigers), Zak Hardaker (Leeds Rhinos), Jack Hughes (Warrington Wolves), Matt Davis (Warrington Wolves), Tom Briscoe (Leeds Rhinos), Ricky Leutele (Huddersfield Giants), Oliver Holmes (Warrington Wolves), Rob Mulhern (Warrington Wolves), Jacob Gannon (Warrington Wolves), Nathan Wilde (Newcastle Thunder), Ava Seumanufagai (Canterbury Bulldogs)

Departures;

Adam Sidlow (Salford Red Devils), Luis Roberts (Leeds Rhinos), Krisnan Inu (retired), Caleb Aekins (released), Sam Stone (Salford Red Devils), Mark Ioane (Keighley Cougars), Ata Hingano (York RLFC Knights), Kieran Dixon (Widnes Vikings), Jy Hitchcox (retired), Nene Macdonald (Leeds Rhinos)

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