Leigh Leopards forward Brad Martin has joined Championship side Batley Bulldogs on a month-long loan deal. Martin only joined the Leopards in the off-season from Castleford Tigers, as part of the club’s extensive recruitment drive.
However, he has found himself down the pecking order at Leigh Sports Village and as a result he is still waiting to make his debut for the club. Consequently, the Leopards have sent him out on loan to Batley to pick up some much-needed minutes and keep himself ticking over.
The move comes in the build-up to Batley’s clash with Widnes Vikings this weekend, which is the club’s first home league game of the season. The Bulldogs have played just one Championship game so far this year against Sean Long’s Oldham and that finished as an 18-18 draw.
Interestingly, the two clubs are due to go head to head next week in the Challenge Cup fourth round but it is unclear whether Martin will be eligible to play against his parent club.
“Spending time on loan at Batley will be a good opportunity for Brad to get competitive minutes,” Leigh’s director of rugby Chris Chester said.
“We’ve got a very strong squad this year and it’s important we keep all players as match fit as possible so that they are ready when Lammy needs them.
“Getting a chance to play first team competitive rugby is the best for Brad’s development and fitness. He’ll be a great asset to Mark Moxon’s squad.”
Martin probably would have hoped to be more involved since making the move to Leigh Leopards, given the amount of game time he saw at Castleford. After making his debut for the Tigers in 2020, Martin went on to make 39 appearances for the West Yorkshire outfit and that includes nine run outs last season.
As such, he’ll be hoping to the month at Batley to get up to speed and catch the eye of Adrian Lam before returning as the Super League season begins to gather pace.
