In the first Challenge Cup Final without Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves and St Helens since 1986, Leigh Leopards showed that they are a growing forced in the Betfred Super League by winning a first Challenge Cup since 1971 defeating Hull KR at Wembley.
They are fourth in the league and becoming a major attraction on the back of their dramatic and radical rebrand from Leigh Centurions to Leigh Leopards which was the brain child of Derek Beaumont.
In the eyes of many, especially given the amazing entertainment done before games at Leigh Sports Village, they have increased interest in the sport.
This is why Adrian Lam said on YouTube that he feels they are part of the reason for the strong TV deal: “Oh, absolutely. It’s massive news for the sport. I know there’s some talk on the outside about fans won’t go to the game. I don’t think that will be the case.
“I think the great thing about rugby league is it gives people an opportunity to have a routine during the weekend and go and support the team, whether it’s on TV or not.
“I think financially it can only benefit us. It can only get us exposure. It can only take our game to the next level. With all of that then comes backing and sponsorship and corporate and the big package comes into play with all that.
“So, really excited for the game here in Super League in the UK. I think we’re heading in the right direction with that and we can build off that. So I think for our club, it’s certainly a massive boost and I think we’ve played our part this year with the entertainment side of things off the field.
“Whilst we’ve been very competitive on and winning on, I think Derek has certainly led the way as the owner at our club at LSV. You come to a ground, to a match and it’s an event and people look forward to doing that. So I’m very grateful of what’s happened with the sport, with the TV deal.”
Lam also had his say on the development of having video referees at every game:
“Whatever makes our game better and gets the results right more often, then it’s going to serve us to a tee. I think there would have been some results this year where it may have been different in games, but let’s just look forward and look at the good things, good points ahead. And that’s certainly one of them.
“I think the referees we’ve got are great. I think, in my opinion, I have a very strong opinion about this. I think we need to invest money into the officials and the refereeing side of things in the sense of giving younger people an opportunity to become referees, a bit of a pathway for them, an area where we can make our referees better through a full-time program.
“That’s not being critical of the referees, I think they’ve done a great job. What I’m saying is that in the NRL and every professional organization, your whole refereeing staff should be full-time. And by being full-time, you get 80 hours of education and next level with it.
“So I think it’s an area where we need to invest as a sport into our officials and our adjudication refereeing and that’s for the best part. That’s to be better at everything that we’re doing, not being critical of that. I just think it’s an area where if we can take that to the next level supported by the third referee and the donor of the video, I think it can only help our game.”
