Leigh Leopards: Adrian Lam speaks out after “frustrating” defeat to Leeds Rhinos

Leigh Leopards may have led 16-0 at halftime against the Leeds Rhinos but they came up short 22-16 as an Ash Handley double gave the Rhinos the win making it three wins from four to start the season.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Head Coach Adrian Lam branded the defeat as “very frustrating” as he highlighted what he felt the turning point was.

He said: “Yeah, very frustrating, you know, 15 minutes of mayhem there and I think the Hanley no try for us, that there was a big turning point of the game, so, you know, that’s what happens, there was plenty of effort there and, you know, I thought the first half was outstanding as well.”

Making the defeat worse for the Leopards, the injuries keep piling up. After losing the likes of Edwin Ipape, Tom Briscoe and John Asiata in the opening few games, the Leopards have now lost Lachlan Lam who was helped from the field.

Lam said on his son’s injury: “No, I’m not exactly sure what it is, but we’ll have a look as soon as I get in there and we’ll work that out.

Leigh Leopards boss highlights positives

There were some positives for the Leigh Leopards within the game as Lam himself would note as he spoke to Sky Sports.

He said: “I thought the first half was as good as it gets in rugby league and I was really proud of him for that, especially without John there.

“And we can build on that moving forward and just stay positive through this process and just keep working hard.”

Another positive was the performance of young Umyla Hanley who scored his first try for Leigh after joining the club from Wigan Warriors ahead of the 2023 Super League season.

It was his first showing since June for the Leigh Leopards and he certainly impressed his Head Coach Adrian Lam who said of his performance:

“Yeah, he’s been awesome through our pre-season and certainly deserves a start so I’m just proud of him getting that first try and also having that performance that he did.”

Leigh though are still without a win this season.