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Derek Beaumont reveals that he told Chris Chester to spend the full salary cap as he looks to impress IMG

Leigh have returned to Super League with a bang under their new name the Leigh Leopards.

They may have lost their opening two games but they have been difficult to beat against two of last year’s top six.

But they also put on a real show for their opening game against Salford Red Devils and have made some huge signings such as Zak Hardaker and Ricky Leutele who arrived from Leeds Rhinos and Leigh Leopards respectively.

This is in stark contrast to other promoted sides in the past. Often the fact that a side is chasing promotion leaves them in limbo in terms of recruiting players but this time Derek Beaumont told Director of Rugby to splash the cash as he revealed he believes the Leigh squad will impress IMG just in terms of performance rather than results.

He said on the brilliant Red Robin Podcast ahead of Leigh’s clash with the Robins Hull KR:

“The difference is that in May last year I said to Chris Chester, ‘Look just go and spend the cap, get recruiting now because if we wait until we know then we’re never going to get the players’.

“Have we got it right? Time will tell. The first two performances are losses but I take a lot of credibility from the manner of the defence and the manner of the boys, because it is important for reasons such as IMG and everything else.

“A lot of people have lost sight of the fact we’ve got 13 new players in our squad, that’s not ideal. We’ve had a lot of changes, which we knew so there’s no complaints. At this moment in time it is about being defensively strong and robust, the attack will come but it’s the newness of it. We want to build something strong.”

Beaumont is also not phased by the potential for Leigh to lose their opening eight games:

“We come there and I know it’s going to be very tough. I’m quite prepared to be three and zero. I know we’ve them got St Helens coming after that, I’m quite prepared for four and zero. We then go to Warrington and then your neighbours Hull FC, and we then get Wigan here. We could be seven or eight games without a win but we stick together and we don’t crack under it. Adrian’s aware and the players are aware, we just keep working hard. I think if you do lose, it’s the manner in which you lose and the performance that gives the fans something.”

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