Adrian Lam reveals he turned down “lots of NRL and Super League offers”

Adrian Lam has revealed that he turned down several offers from here in Super League and down under from the NRL when making his decision to sign a new deal with Leigh Leopards.

It was initially teased last week by owner Derek Beaumont that Adrian Lam could be re-upping his deal with the Leopards owner sharing an image of Lam and himself sharing a handshake and a bottle of bubbly.

Within 24 hours of that picture being posted on social media, Leigh had confirmed that they had re-signed Adrian Lam on a new three-year deal that would keep him at the club until the end of the 2027 season.

It had already been suggested that a three-year deal had been put forward to Lam with owner Derek Beaumont letting details slip when speaking to fans in the club’s Hospitality Suite ahead of their clash with Castleford Tigers.

When confronted with that truth, Lam was surprised that information had been revealed but he did confirm that he was in talks with the club, explaining: “I’ve been talking to the club and we’re certainly down the track, but I didn’t know he’d given out the details.”

Leigh Leopards beat out Super League rivals and NRL sides to tie down coach

It wasn’t a simple process in re-signing Adrian Lam by the sounds of it though with the coach confirming that the rumours and reports of NRL and Super League interest were indeed true.

Speaking on Hull FC links previously, Lam stated:“I was linked with the Souths job last week, it’s Hull this week, it’s probably someone else next week.

“I don’t want to get too caught up with negotiating or talking to other clubs that may be of interest or all speculation in my opinion.”

Fast forward almost a fortnight and he’s now recalled those talks and confirmed that there certainly was interest domestically and from abroad.

“I think I described it as ‘outside noise’,” Lam explained.

“There were a lot of offers from the NRL and from Super League. So, it was a tough decision in the sense of having to balance everything out, but I got to the right one in the end and again, I’m just grateful for what we have here.

“I know the club hasn’t had much to cheer about over a long period of time in the sense of winning trophies, but we’ve certainly done that in the last couple of years and hopefully we can keep working hard and achieve a few more of those.”

Legendary pundit Andrew Voss had been one of those to link Adrian Lam to South Sydney Rabbitohs whilst Sky Sports Jon Wilkin had suggested that Lam would have been a target for Hull FC in a double swoop alongside son Lachlan. Lam himself had commented on those links at the time of his signing.

“Very, very excited” – What Adrian Lam had to say about his new deal

After all the drama about ‘Will he or won’t he’, Adrian Lam has committed his future and the Papua New Guinean has spoken to LeopardsTV about his new deal.

On the fact he’s confirmed his future with the club, Lam explained: “I’m very, very excited. It’s something that’s happened recently and obviously, there’s been a lot of support from the town. Everyone I run into seems to be very happy but not as happy as me.

“I’ve got some great memories here already and I want to create a lot more. It’s been a lot of hard work and things have been up and down this season especially, but I can see good times ahead this year.”

He also made specific reference to the fact the contract was a three-year deal, indicating that he intends to complete the initial five-year plan that he had referenced when joining the club.

“I guess the term of the contract shows to everyone that I’ve committed to the cause here and still part of this big plan that we have. I’m just so excited to be even considered and to extend here has certainly made my day and my year.”