Adrian Lam highlights key reason Leigh Leopards lost to Hull KR

Hull KR are set to take on Wigan Warriors or Catalans Dragons next week dependent on St Helens vs Warrington Wolves as the Robins prepare for a second Super League semi-final in three years.

They secured their place in the final four at the expense of Leigh Leopards whose brilliant season hit a brick wall with the defeat.

It was a rotten shame and after the game the question was what went wrong for the Leopards.

After the game, Adrian Lam explained what went wrong for the Leopards.

He said on Sky Sports: “Yeah it has been an amazing year and journey up till tonight. It has been disappointing tonight. We didn’t show our identity of us as a club, it has been an unbelievable experience as a club and the highs certainly outweigh the lows.”

He was asked about running out of steam and he said:

“Yeah I don’t like looking it that way. Once the game was changed and we lost that advantage, it was always going to be a might effort to come up here and win up here, especially without a few senior guys.

“I will always be grateful for the moments we have had this year.

“Congratulations to Hull KR. They have certainly been growing for this year and for the future too.”

Asked about other highlights this year, Lam said:

“Just building the squad. When I came in 18 months ago we only had six players so to watch this squad come together and grow together.”

He went on to promise more building and improvement next year.

This was always going to be a great game as a rematch of the first Challenge Cup Final without Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves and St Helens since 1986.

Hull KR had secured home advantage in the game last week but, despite trying to speed the game up, had to battle through a number of errors.

They conceded the opening points after a strange penalty against Matt Parcell. He was in front of the play the ball but got involved in the play and was subsequently offside.

He was penalised and Ben Reynolds nailed the penalty to give the Leopards the advantage early on.

They had a few chances to build pressure especially after a huge hit by Lachlan Lam which saw the ball knocked free but on the next set the Leopards squandered the opportunity with James Batchelor mopping up a kick.

Hull KR slowly but surely battled back into the game ironically by speeding the game up around the ruck and on the back of inroads created by dummy half runs, Elliot Minchella won a penalty due to a high tackle from Joe Wardle.

This time Brad Schneider nailed a penalty to make it 2-2. He looked destined to score the opener after some great interplay between Jack Walker and Matt Parcell – two Grand Final winners in 2017 with Leeds Rhinos – saw them carve open the Leopards with a series of offloads.

But the last pass to Schneider was deemed forward denting an attacking opportunity that most days would be described as a certain try but Ed Chamberlain came across to tackle him after the whistle was blown.

However, Hull KR would eventually get the opening try with a nice set play putting James Batchelor through a gap before an offload to Jack Walker to score.

Then another former Leeds star pounced on a brilliant one on one strip by Matt Parcell. On the next play Ryan Hall powered over despite the efforts of Joe Mellor.

A try just before the break, they got one just after the break after an error from Gareth O’Brien with Sam Luckley getting over for a relatively easy try with a disguised run.

Leigh then had a try disallowed for obstruction around the ruck but did get themselves back in the game when Josh Charnley scored in the corner after a sweeping move.

But Hull KR secured their semi-final spot with a penalty.