Adrian Lam becomes Leigh Centurions Head Coach

After leaving Wigan Warriors this summer, Adrian Lam has since landed himself a new job as the Head Coach of recently relegated Leigh Centurions.

Lam had been linked with the job for a couple of weeks, but the announcement still came as a bit of a surprise to some, with Lam having some fairly recent success at the top end of the Betfred Super League.

There is no getting away from the fact that last season would have been disappointing for Lam, after exiting the Play-offs at the first hurdle with a home defeat to Leeds Rhinos in the eliminator fixture, but dropping down to the Championship wasn’t a move that many anticipated.

Lam has also recently revealed that he turned down two NRL jobs in order to come and work at the Leigh Sports Village, with Head of Rugby, Chris Chester, being a huge factor in Lam’s decision.

Chester was Head Coach at Wakefield before taking the role of Head of Rugby at Leigh in late September and is believed to have had a huge impact on Lam’s decision to stay in Super League by providing the signings Lam felt Leigh required without any hesitation.

Lam does have success on his CV and will be hoping to add a promotion with the Centurions onto that list of successes. He is still currently the assistant coach to Mal Meninga for World Champions Australia whilst being in charge of the Championship club.

Lam was named Super League coach of the year in 2020 as he led Wigan to the League Shield winners before leading them to a Grand Final against St Helens which they lost with the last action of the game in one of the most dramatic moments in Grand Final history.

With Leigh making their signings nice and early ahead of the fast-approaching Championship season, Lam’s side has already begun to take shape as they aim for getting promotion back to Super League at the first time of asking.

Signings have consisted of the likes of Keenan Brand who joins permanently after being released from Warrington, Ata Hingano, former NRL full-back Caleb Aekins, Jayden Hatton and Tom Nisbet.

Aekins is a signing that particularly excited Leigh fans after previously featuring in the NRL and will be hoping to take the Championship by storm in 2022.

Lam’s first Betfred Championship game will be in front of the home faithful as they face Whitehaven at Leigh Sports Village on January 29.

After what can only be described as a season to forget for Leigh last campaign after getting just two wins all season, they will be hoping to have a much more positive season this term, and with the signings they’ve made along with the impressive appointment of Adrian Lam, it could be a special year for the Centurions.

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