Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has put the pressure on himself to get Adam Cook up to speed in Super League as soon as possible.
Cook is one of several new faces at Leigh Sports Village this season, with the half-back making the move from Canberra Raiders to join up with the Leopards over the off-season. So far, the 25-year-old has been an ever present under Lam, featuring alongside skipper Lachlan Lam in all five of the competitive games the club have played this season.
He’s expected to play at stand-off this week against Hull FC in the Challenge Cup, too, and it’s fair to say that he’ll be determined to put in a strong showing after struggling for form so far.
Cook isn’t the only Leigh player to have underwhelmed this year and with a raft of key men on the sidelines through injury, it has been hard to build up partnerships across the field.
Lam isn’t too concerned about his five-eighth’s performances at present, though, and he believes the Australian will be a lot better once he’s settled and fully found his feet in the north west of England.
“He’s not reached the heights yet, but he is a talented player, Adam,” Lam said during his press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “This happens to most players who come over from the NRL or the New South Wales Cup or the Q Cup, they try and find their feet here but the conditions are completely different, it’s a different environment and different home and away grounds.
“It takes time to get used to. I say that in respect to everything takes time when you change so many players. Some clubs have had no changes but we’ve had six. We’ve done that every year and it’s always started off slowly, apart from last year.
“I’ve got to get Adam up to speed very, very quickly. There’s pressure on every player to hold their position, including Adam. He knows what he needs to do to find that form quickly and we’re working hard on that at training to make sure he does.”
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