Leigh Leopards are now at rugby league’s top table, and they are here to stay!

Leigh Leopards defied the odds this season. Following their promotion from the Championship, Adrian Lam’s side romped to the Super League playoffs and brought silverware to the Leigh Sports Village as they won the Challenge Cup. But is this just a case of first season syndrome? Or can they kick on next season. 

The Leopards came into this season as an unknown entity. The Leigh club had been in Super League before, under the name Centurions, but the rebrand brought a new lease of life to the club as a whole. They brought the party right from the off, with Scouting for Girls performing prior to kick-off and a huge fireworks display coupled with fire-eaters; however on the pitch the party would come a few weeks later.

Leigh were on the slow cooker to start the season. A famous win against St Helens came in round four, but things really went up a gear in round nine as they put Wakefield Trinity to the sword. This win at Belle Vue kick-started a run of nine consecutive wins in all competitions, and by the end of it they were firmly in the top six in Super League and had secured a semi-final berth in the Challenge Cup. This run of wins started turning heads within Rugby League, and everyone stood up and took note.

What was most impressive though was the style of play the Leopards had adopted. They played an incredible brand of free-flowing, attacking rugby which saw them run teams like Huddersfield Giants, Warrington Wolves and Castleford Tigers ragged.

The backline of Ben Reynolds, Lachlan Lam, Josh Charnley, Ricky Leutele, Zak Hardaker, Tom Briscoe and Gareth O’Brien all combined perfectly together to form an imperious attacking force. Another key player for the Leopards was captain John Asiata. Called “our Dad” by Derek Beaumont, Asiata was the heartbeat of the Leopards side.

All of these factors saw them win an unprecedented Challenge Cup, with a golden point win over Hull KR under the Wembley arch. They had a slightly rocky landing though, but they still secured their place in the playoffs. As the old saying goes though ‘all good things must come to an end’, and the Leopards season ended with a 20-6 defeat to the Robins at Craven Park.

However where does this season leave the resident party animals of Super League? Will they be able to replicate the feats of 2023 next year? I think so.

Adrian Lam has instilled a fantastic into the locker room. The players are not only playing for themselves, but are working hard for the teammates around them. There is a real sense of a ‘team-first’ mentality within the Leopards dressing room, and this was summed up perfectly by Edwin Ipape.

The PNG star had a brilliant debut season in Super League, which saw him included in the Super League Dream Team, however when speaking exclusively to Serious About Rugby League he highlighted how his teammates helped him achieve this: “just with the brand of footy that we’ve been able to play and to grow under the leadership of Coach Lammy and just the players around me that brought the best out of me,” said Ipape. “I’m just proud to be in the mix of those boys who have given me the chance to expose myself and expose my talent. I’m just grateful to be here.”

He added: “We’ve played in some big games earlier this year but without team effort, we wouldn’t be here. They wouldn’t be able to include all those five of us in this Dream Team. They help us to be us. They play their part and we play our part every time we play.”

This ‘team-first’ mentality is part of the Leopards DNA, and will help them through a tough 2024 season as they have a target on their backs.

Another reason I believe success could be in line for the Leopards in 2024 is the recruitment.

They are already heavily linked with Anthony Milford from the Dolphins in the NRL. This signing could be a huge boost to the Leopards already strong spine. Milford is an experienced NRL and International quality halfback and will bring a new dynamic to the Leigh attack in 2024. They are also expected to announce other major signings ahead of the 2024 campaign, with Adrian Lam already hinting at new recruits.

The highs of the 2023 season will also help bring in higher calibre recruits to the Leigh Sports Village, and with the party atmosphere off it, it would be a hard offer to refuse for any player.

Derek Beaumont has previously commented on this. Speaking on the Bench podcast, the flamboyant owner said: “the biggest thing in any club is recruitment; and in doing that, you know, who you coach has an influence on who the agents and the players are going to be coached by, and then your facilities obviously are important. I think we’re okay on that element; and then it’s the culture that you have and the fun that you create.”

The new recruits will also be brought in to add to the culture of the club which saw them achieve great things in 2023. Adrian Lam’s culture of ‘team-first’ and working hard for one another will be instilled in the signings from an early stage, and should help them take like a duck to water within the Leopards squad.

Whilst they already have an incredibly strong squad, new recruits will help take Leigh up another gear and potentially see them go one better than this season.