Leigh Leopards pair ‘only getting better’ as Adrian Lam hails star performers

Adrian Lam believes Umyla Hanley is only halfway towards fulfilling his full potential as he continues to shine in the Leigh Leopards back line.

Hanley has arguably been Leigh’s player of the season so far with the centre impressing in wins over Wigan Warriors and Huddersfield Giants before his standout showing against Catalans Dragons last week.

The 23-year-old scored a hat-trick for the Leopards in that game as they eased to their third win of the season and he’ll be hoping to help Leigh build on their impressive start this evening when Lam’s side face Hull FC at the MKM Stadium.

Hanley, who joined Leigh from Wigan ahead of the 2023 season, is still learning and developing as a player, but he is honing his game as an outside back with the Leopards and Lam is delighted to see him continue making huge strides.

“He’s been absolutely brilliant,” Lam said in the build up to Thursday’s trip to East Yorkshire. “He’s had a really strong pre-season, he’s been one of our top three or four competitors and athletes through that off-season.

“I think he’s got better every year. He’s the ultimate competitor, you know what you’re going to get from him and if he’s up against a particular player he loves that challenge.

“He’s formed a nice little combination with Keanan Brand on that right hand side as well. He’s been impressive but we’ve sort of anticipated that off the back of how he’s trained.

“I think he’s halfway to where he’s going to get to. His ability to break the line now, he’s been a really strong working centre/winger over the last 12 months and now he’s starting to break the line and bring that X factor into his own game.

“He scored three tries last weekend and if you look at the work he had to do off the back of that, especially the first one, it was incredible and inspirational. I’m really proud of him.”

Three tries in three games 👊

Does Umyla Hanley get your vote for the @GlensVodkaLLG Player of the Month? 🤔#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/9h9p2qBI0w

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 6, 2025

Another one of Leigh’s star performers has been Ethan O’Neill, whose arrival in the off-season may have gone slightly under the radar given the profile of player the club recruited elsewhere. He hadn’t played first grade before his debut against Wigan, but he’s taken to Super League like a duck to water, it’s fair to say.

“Out of the first three games, he made the Super League team of the week in the first two matches and that gives you an indication of how he’s performed,” Lam added.

“I’ve been really impressed with him as a champion person off the field, he certainly lives up to our standards and who we want to be as a club, as a competitor and a good person and I think he’s only going to get better. It was his first professional game with us in round one against Wigan and I think he did a really good job.

“He’s only going to get better because it takes time to settle in as an international player coming over so he is certainly ticking the right boxes. I coached Ethan at the Clovelly Crocodiles with Lachlan Lam when he was in his early teens for four or five years so I’ve known him for a long time.

“I’ve also been there for him through some difficult times so we do have a relationship and we knew what we were getting. The fans have taken to him really well and I’m hoping his game keeps improving during the season.”