Leigh Leopards given huge odds by bookies for win at Leeds Rhinos a week before Challenge Cup Final

It’s been just over a week since the epic Challenge Cup semi-finals that saw Leigh Leopards defeat St Helens and cup holders Wigan Warriors crash out in dramatic golden point fashion to Hull Kingston Rovers.

Both matches were of incredible intensity and were separated by thin margins at scores of 12-10 to the Leopards and 11-10 to Rovers after extra-time.

The two winning semi-finalists had differing fortunes in Super League this week with Rovers running out easy winners against Castleford, whereas the Leopards fell to a heavy defeat against fellow semi-finalists Wigan Warriors in the Battle of the Borough at the DW Stadium

After the game the Leopards head coach Adrian Lam announced that there was a chance his team could travel to Headingley next weekend, less than a week before their Challenge Cup Final clash at Wembley.

Lam told Channel 4: “We have picked up a few knocks today so we are just going to take it day by day over the next couple of weeks because there is a lot to think about.

“Whether we play a full-strength team or rest a few faces next week is something we’ll have to consider because we have a small squad and it’s going to be a special day for the club.”

Based on those comments it seems that the bookmakers have heavily slashed the price of Leeds in the pair’s upcoming meeting, with Leeds available to back at a price of 1/6 with the handicap margin being set at 16 points.

Whilst Lam may genuinely intend to rotate some faces the question that then arises is ‘who will he replace the starters with?’

That’s because Leigh have one of the smallest squads in Super League, a point that Lam has been keen to reference at times throughout the year.

They’ve also just lost centre Ricky Leutele for the rest of the season with a bruised spinal cord which has prompted reports from Examiner Live that former Wigan man Oliver Gildart is set to head to the Leigh Sports Village.

Given that this Friday, two days before the game, is the deadline for player registration they’ll have to move swift to get any roster additions over the line.

Obviously as well given that Leeds have been slashed in price, it’s meant that Leigh have drifted out to a very large 4/1, one of the biggest prices that the Leopards have been since they started their winning run earlier in the season.

Given Leeds’ propensity to lose to the lower teams in Super League, two losses against 11th placed Castleford and one to 12th placed Wakefield, then even a weakened 2nd placed Leigh side could pose them a problem.

The reverse fixture saw Leigh run out as 20-6 winners in round ten so the Leopards certainly aren’t to be ruled out despite their huge price with the bookmakers.