Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam unhappy with crucial calls against Leeds Rhinos

Leeds Rhinos battled from behind to defeat Leigh Leopards on Friday night to make it three wins from their opening four and their best start to a Super League season since the 2020 Super League campaign.

The Rhinos trailed 16-0 at halftime after tries from Gareth O’Brien, Kai O’Donnell and Umyla Hanley. Leeds were lucky to not find themselves further behind as well.

The Leigh Leopards had tries for Tom Amone and a second for Hanley disallowed the latter due to just a toe on the touchline.

Leeds gave themselves a chance of a comeback at the home of the Leigh Leopards when a Brodie Croft pass at the line allowed Rhyse Martin to spin through and touch down for the Rhinos making it 16-6.

Shortly after this, Andy Ackers carved through and found Lachie Miller in support and he found Brodie Croft. Ricky Leutele made the cover tackle but Gareth O’Brien flopped onto the tackle and was subsequently sin binned.

With a man advantage, the Rhinos struck with Matt Frawley carving through the heart of the Leigh Leopards defence to score his first Leeds try.

The Rhinos stormed ahead to take the 22-16 lead with a brace from Ash Handley. The first try was created by a Rhyse Martin kick and a Paul Momirovski offload before great work from Croft laid a second try for Handley on a plate as he made it 22-16.

Leigh Leopards boss questions key decisions

After the game, Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam spoke on Leopards TV and had a number of questions about the referee decisions.

Lam couldn’t comment on the sin binning of Gareth O’Brien but did say Leeds should have had up to four yellow cards: “It was mayhem out there for about 15 to 20 minutes. It was a case of six again, penalty, penalty, try. I need to watch it back to get it clear in my head.

“I’m a little bit frustrated. I thought we deserved something out of that game. It was a crucial moment. It didn’t need to be done and it was a brain explosion.

“I remember watching it unfold at the time. It was a tough decision considering there were two, three or even four times when a Leeds player could have been carded.”