Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam believes that, in terms of attack, his side produced their season best performance this week in victory over Huddersfield Giants.
The Leopards scored six tries in total to defeat the West Yorkshire outfit 30-16. Milestone man Josh Charnley crossed for two of those, whilst opposite winger AJ Towse also secured a double.
Innes Senior and Lachlan Lam rounded out the scoring, with the latter being awarded a penalty try after he was caught high in the act of scoring.
Here is how the PNG man thought this evening’s action went down, as he also paid credit to Charnley on what was his 400th career appearance.
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Leigh Leopards boss’ verdict after 30-16 victory over Huddersfield Giants
Following an improved showing, albeit in defeat, against Warrington Wolves, Leigh have since secured two victories in a row, with the club looking to be going in an upward trajectory.
Lam agreed with that statement, but knows his side can’t take anything for granted with so much work still to be done.
He said: “Yeah, let’s hope [we keep building momentum]. Confidence has been down, really, and we just needed to win. It didn’t matter whether it was by one point the last couple of weeks, but two in a row now.
“That helps build that confidence and that trust back in each other. But a lot of players out of position, but grateful that we’ve got those two points tonight.”
Leigh were the worst attacking side in the league prior to round nine, but 30 points at home shows they can certainly put points on if their attack clicks.
With Adam Cook and Lam Jr having one of their best showings of the season so far, Lam Snr hopes that it can continue going forward.
The Leopards boss said: “It was definitely our best game this year, as in shape and executing what we’ve trained. I’m not used to that either.
“It has been hard work, to be honest with you, just combining the new faces in the team in key positions. We probably should have scored three or four more tries tonight, to be honest with you. So that’s heading in the right direction as well.”
One man who could be close to a return from injury in the coming weeks is David Armstrong, who featured for around an hour in Leigh’s reserve grade game prior to the Super League clash.
Scoring a try, the full-back will be hoping to be in contention for next week’s trip to Catalans Dragons, where he could make a first-team return after over nine months.
“I’m a big fan of David Armstrong, as you all know,” Lam said. “Him playing after a knee reconstruction, being out for so long in reserve grade today, was just great to get here early and watch him.
“He scored a great try as well. He’ll be in the picture very soon, along with the other players, as you mentioned [Tesi Niu and Umyla Hanley].
“It’ll certainly help when you’ve got that quality there. It makes it easier. We still have got a good forward pack there, and we’re very close to our best side.
“They’ve just played big minutes and have really cooked them over the last six weeks. So hopefully some help comes in the near future.”
Commenting on Charnley, who was awarded Man of the Match for his efforts, Lam said: “I was hoping that last pass from Adam Cook would land in the bread basket to make it a hat-trick for him on a special night.
“But, what a legend he is of our game and of our sport and our club.
“We’re just privileged here at the Leopards to have him achieve those 400 games. We acknowledged that yesterday in the team meeting and all week. We wanted that extra bit for him to be successful tonight, but he got two tries.
“The career that he’s had so far has been exceptional. He’s a great person on top of that, but I’m very pleased for Josh tonight.”
