Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has explained the reason behind why prop Robbie Mulhern was a late withdrawal from last night’s game against York Knights.
The Leopards came away with a much needed 18-6 victory, but they were again rocked with a few injury concerns, leaving players to “play busted.”
Tries came from Gareth O’Brien, Josh Charnley and Jacob Alick-Wiencke, with Lam praising his side on how they saw out the final 20 minutes of the game coolly, in what was a completely opposite showing to their Challenge Cup exit last time out.
Leading 8-6 at the break, the club didn’t concede a point in the second half, with the victory seen as a potential turning point in the season by the boss.
However, it didn’t come without it’s downsides and one major setback saw Mulhern withdrawn prior to the game kicking off.
The former Hull KR and Warrington man was named to start in the front row, but a call just minutes before kick-off saw him sit the game out, with Owen Trout moving into the prop, Alick-Wiencke starting in the back row and Ryan Brown getting a place on the bench.
Explaining that decision post-match, Lam said: “Nothing happened to him, but it was a precautionary call that him and I spoke about.
“He’s been in this situation the last couple of years where it gets to this point and it then tears and it’s six to eight weeks.
“We just had a conversation. He that it was not quite right and that there was a chance of that happening, so I just made a call not to play him.
“It’s a long season and as much as we needed to win, I think that was the right call. It’s always the right call after you’ve won.”
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Edwin Ipape update provided after Leigh Leopards star withdrawn early
Another concern for Leigh will be the fact that star hooker Edwin Ipape left the field after around half an hour, but didn’t return.
The PNG international made his comeback last week against Warrington after missing around six weeks of action.
Lam revealed that the 27-year-old probably shouldn’t have played last night, but injuries left him no option.
“Edwin was one of those players that played busted. If we’d had a fit team, I probably wouldn’t have played him tonight.
“We just needed him at the start there. [He’s carrying] a bit of a shoulder sprain from last week. A lot of pain, but he put his hand up to make sure that he did the job for the team and the club.
Providing updates on other members of the squad, versatile forward Matt Davis picked up some concussion symptoms in training meaning that he was ruled out on HIA protocols.
The club’s two starting centres, Tesi Niu and Umyla Hanley, are both around a fortnight away, with the club looking to use the reserve grade game next week as a chance to bleed them back into the side.
“Test will be not next week but the week after, and Umyla is probably the same,” revealed Lam.
“Next week, we’re hoping to get one or two players to play reserves… next week against Huddersfield.
“We’ve changed the game to have a curtain raiser before the first team just to get one or two of those boys into that game prior to them being considered for first team the week after.
