Adrian Lam not happy about Leigh Leopards’ short turnaround

Leigh Leopards and Hull KR meet at Wembley in the Challenge Cup Final but they go into the game after very different games against Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors respectively.

Hull KR played on Friday night against Wigan and chose to rest almost all their team even bringing in loan players to protect their stars for the final.

Leigh meanwhile played on Sky Sports against Leeds on the Sunday and went almost full strength with only Zak Hardaker and Josh Charnley absent in a gutsy win.

Many have questioned why Leigh have only been given a six day turnaround and speaking on the Rhinos’ YouTube Channel after the game coach Adrian Lam emphasised disappointment with the decision.

“It’s a six day turnaround, I can’t believe it but we can’t change any of that. Hull KR will do whatever they need to do. I think, again, it’s more about just when the time comes that everyone’s on the same page for us,” he said.

“It’s a massive game for both clubs, I understand that, but we’re going to try and enjoy the week as much as we can. We’ve hardly going to train obviously, so we’ll be OK come Saturday.

He also spoke about selection for the final:

“Yeah, that’s all I could think about after the game to be honest with you, was someone’s going to have to miss out there or in the way. I mean that’s the hardest part about being coached but it’s also a position that I’m grateful that we’re in, that we’ve got players to pick from.

“I think the only one missing is Ricky Leutele, so Kai O’Donnell made his return today after the six week suspension which was great, I mean he’s was awesome out there today and we’ve missed him.

“Oliver Gildart made his debut for us today but not going to play next week, Tom Nisbett came on to that left wing and Ava Seumanufagi hasn’t played for six or seven weeks, and Joe Wardle’s missed the whole season so yeah we’ll have a few to pick from.”

Either way it promises to be a great final.