Leigh Leopards’ Chris Chester makes signings admission after huge overhaul

Leigh Leopards Director Rugby Chris Chester has made a key admission on the club’s recruitment for the 2025 season.

An incredible turnaround in the second half of the 2024 campaign saw Leigh head into the play-offs with the best form in Super League but they would fall short against eventual champions Wigan Warriors in the semi-finals.

Despite that, it proved to be Leigh’s first-ever Super League semi-final and it came just a year after their highest-ever finish of fourth in a season that also saw their famous Challenge Cup victory.

The man at the helm of the squad has been Adrian Lam but above him is Director of Rugby Chris Chester. The former Hull KR and Wakefield Trinity head coach is just three years into his new role but in that time has overseen a treble-winning campaign in the Championship and the aforementioned 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Further success in 2025 could prove even more difficult given the huge overhaul of talent that the club have lost but Chester looks to have met his task of replacing those stars.

“It’s been a heck of a journey,” he admitted when speaking with The Leigh Journal, as he’d go on to discuss his role as well as the recruitment for 2025.

Leigh Leopards’ busy recruitment window to set them up long-term

Chester took on the role with Leigh Leopards after spells as the head coach at each of Hull KR and Wakefield Trinity but he arrived at Leigh with no true experience in such a role.

Speaking on that, he told The Leigh Journal: “As Director of Rugby, you are constantly learning. There are things I didn’t think about when I first took on the job.

“It has been a learning curve. But I feel I am a better of director rugby I am now than when I first walked through the door.”

Whilst he wouldn’t rule out a return to coaching, he labelled his current role as ‘the next best thing’ before speaking about the major recruitment drive the club had to undertake this off-season.

With overseas stars such as John Asiata, Tom Amone, Kai O’Donnell and Ricky Leutele all leaving, as well as non-quota players Zak Hardaker, Oliver Holmes and Ed Chamberlain among others, it’s meant a lot of work for Chester.

He’s now reflected on how tough it could be for Adrian Lam, stating: “It is difficult (integrating large numbers of new players) for the coach. I have been there myself at Wakefield and Hull KR.”

However, he’s hopeful that the window of activity that has seen NRL players Isaac Liu, Tesi Niu, Ben Condon and David Armstrong arrive, as well as domestic recruits Brad Martin, AJ Towse and Ryan Brown, will be the last of its kind.

“The bigger picture is that these signings are hopefully going to be here for the next four of five years,” he explained, forecasting quieter off-seasons in the future as he added: “We will have stability going forward and don’t need to keep making wholesale changes.”

Chester still has one more task on his hands this off-season and that is to deal with the recent retirement of Matt Moylan. The Australian half/full-back’s late call has opened up a quota spot for Leigh Leopards but also dealt their spine a blow.