Leigh Centurions will return to Super League in 2023 after they beat Batley in the Grand Final 44-12 at Leigh Sports Village last night.
It’s been one hell of a journey for the Centurions since relegation in 2021. When owner Derek Beaumont appointed ex-Wigan boss Adrian Lam the Centurions only had seven player according to Lam on Premier Sports last night.
Since then Leigh have developed a superb squad which has fired the club back to Super League but for Lam the journey was fraught with risk.
Reflecting on it, he described taking the job as a “risk” moving to the Championship after coaching Wigan to a Super League Grand Final in 2020.
He also underlined that he feels they’ve given Leigh fans something to be proud about in 2022 and hopefully beyond: “When I first signed there’s always risk when thinking about taking a step backwards and coaching in the Championship. It’s always a risk to do that, but there’s also some positives and part of that was that we could build a side that could compete and with that came convincing the Leigh crowd that things were on the up.
“The conversations I’ve had with Derek Beaumont and Chris Chester have been so positive and brought some credibility back to the town.”
In doing so, the club have constantly been faced with obstacles such as trying to get signings over the line.
As Lam explained, this was incredibly hard for the club when they couldn’t guarantee Super League: “Trying to recruit and sign players when you’re not guaranteed a Super League position and you’re talking Super League contracts, it’s something that needs to change going forward with the Championship.”
Now Super League is guaranteed and the Centurions have a lot to be excited about with Lam confirming “a lot” of signings are coming to the club in 2023.
But it all started with Lam taking that risk last December.
