Adrian Lam is delighted with the progress David Armstrong has made to get himself on the brink of a return for Leigh Leopards.
Armstrong hasn’t featured for the Leopards since June after rupturing his ACL and having the surgery required to fix the issue. As such he has spent the last nine months going through a gruelling rehabilitation process in order to get himself back to full fitness.
And, Lam has confirmed Armstrong is now in the final two or three weeks of his recovery, with a return to the Leopards’ first-team now imminent.
The full-back won’t feature this week, of course, but he could be looking at a return in early April and that promises to come as a huge boost for Leigh, who have struggled for form in the early stages of the season.
Lam knows what Armstrong has been through over the last few months and he’s more than aware of how much of a mental challenge it can be, stepping back into the action after such a setback. However, the Leigh boss is confident that the Australian has done all he needs to in order to come back and hit the ground running.
“He’s working hard again,” Lam said. “There’s still a lot of work for Davy to do, that injury is long-term and he’s gone through the last nine months with that.
“We also had Louis Brogan come back from one only two weeks ago, too. I think we’re heading in the right direction now, we’ve certainly turned a corner and that’s why the importance of a win at home this week is crucial for us.”
He added: “I’ve had three of those to be honest and I know exactly the situation he’s in and the mentality and mindset he’d had over the last nine months, it’s probably the worst injury you can get in rugby league in the sense of rehabbing it and coming back, it’s the longest one.
“We’ve worked with him really closely. It’s all about confidence for that injury but he’s certainly done all the hard yards, our medical team have been working really hard to get him into a position. It’s about the feeling now and the confidence when he’s ready to go.
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“He certainly was a shining light for us when he played in that first part of the season and we missed him for the second part. Bailey Hodgson did an amazing job to replace him for the second half of the season and both of those players will be back in consideration. Hodgson is round nine or 10, so Davy will probably get an opportunity to get back at full-back at some stage and we’re really excited.
“This one is (mental as much as physical), all your weight bears through that point and its what you pivot on and what they’re going at in the legs in defence. I hope he’s not listening to this but it’s one of those ones where you’re just not sure because it can happen again with whatever happens in the game.
“He should be fine, he’s worked really hard and it’s as good as new. He’s done all the work and now it’s just timing and self confidence.”
