“Between eight and twelve weeks” – Leigh Leopards suffer another massive injury

Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has provided an injury update ahead of their Rivals Round fixture against Salford Red Devils.

The side have had a tough start to the season, and injuries have only worsened this with key spine players Edwin Ipape and John Asiata remaining injured, whilst Lachlan Lam has also missed games.

However, there are some players that could be on their way back which Lam confirmed when speaking to the press, noting: “Lachlan [Lam] should be back in that team there.

“Gaz O’Brien’s probably at 60-40, 50-50 chance of playing or not playing, so that’s doubtful.

“If he doesn’t play, we’ll start Zak Hardaker at fullback. So having said all of that, you know, we’ll give everyone right up until kick-off to be ready.”

There are a number of other small injuries, as Lam says: “Ricky Leutele’s got just a tight groin.

“Mulhern’s got a calf and and the other one I think is maybe Jack Hughes, that’s got a similar sort of issue as well.

“So we’ve just got to manage those as we’ve done every week this year.”

Leigh Leopards confirm lengthy injury for Brand

Keanan Brand was forced off last week in the Cup, and it looks to be a serious one:

“He’s got a scan back and he’s ruptured his medial ligament, which is the same sort of injury as Edwin Ipape.

“You’re looking at between 8 and 12 weeks out.

“He’s worked really hard to come back into the team and he certainly earned his spot there and just had a little bit of bad luck

“On this occasion he’s going to be out long term now and as a group we’ll just rally and get around him and be there for him as mates, and make sure that he gets through this period.”

Lachlan Lam

On Lachlan Lam, the head coach said: “Had last week against Hull FC been a final, he probably could have played at a pinch.

“It was a smart decision on the end not to do that and just to make sure that he got through to this week now but you know he certainly made a difference when he came on the field on the weekend.

“The tempo of the game just changed straight away and you can see how much influence he has on the group and the game.

“We’re going to welcome him back and hopefully we can again start to build some rhythm within the group.”

Asiata injury update

John Asiata’s disciplinary record has been the talk of the town recently, but he’s also working through an injury, which Lam gave an update on:

“It’s certainly an injury crisis that we’ve had but they’re powering on.

“John is very professional as well. Off the field he takes care of his body and himself and he’s certainly on track to getting back around the time that we said that he would be.

Leigh Leopards visit Salford Red Devils at 5:30pm on Saturday, 30 March, live on Sky Sports and free on SuperLeague+, as part of Super League’s Rivals Round.