Leigh Leopards’ squad found out about John Asiata exit through social media

Leigh Leopards’ boss Adrian Lam has described how the playing squad found out the news that club captain John Asiata was signing for Hull FC, calling it a “sudden” revelation.

It was a transfer story that emerged out of nowhere with reports emerging on Friday early afternoon before the bombshell announcement from Hull FC later that day.

FC confirmed that they had signed the Leigh Leopards captain to a three-year deal worth a reported £220,000 per year, according to Rugby League Live’s Matt Shaw.

Whilst the transfer announcement shocked fans around Super League, particularly Leigh Leopards’ fans, it’s since been revealed that it also shocked Asiata’s teammates.

Asiata’s Leigh Leopards exit news very “sudden”

Leigh Leopards played out an epic on Saturday against Castleford Tigers with the game ending 28-28 after golden point and post-game, Adrian Lam explained why Asiata hadn’t featured as he confirmed another injury setback.

Speaking on LeopardsTV, Lam said: “John has pulled out of the game today because of his hamstring so I think he’ll be another four to six weeks which isn’t ideal for us. We’re learning to play without all those boys though.”

Leigh have been hampered by injury issues and Asiata has been a major loss himself, those injury issues being among the reasons why the club allowed Hull FC to outbid them, as revealed by Derek Beaumont pre-game on Saturday.

Lam then revealed how the playing group learned of Asiata’s move, noting: “It was announced through the media, that’s how everyone found out about it, it was pretty sudden.”

That sudden nature saw Beaumont call out Hull FC for their approach to the transfer being incredibly labelling them “desperate”. He boldly claimed: “Desperate people do desperate things and that’s what I kind of put it down to because they look pretty desperate.”

Asiata exit could make Leigh better claims Lam

After explaining that the news of the 31-year-old’s end-of-season transfer to Hull FC was “pretty sudden”, Lam revealed that there were no animosities held between the club and the player, something that Beaumont had ensured to do as well.

Lam noted: “It’s a business that we run here. I don’t want to talk too much about John but I will say that I love John, the club loves him, the fans love him, he loves the club, he loves everything about this place.

“What he’s given to this club in his time here has been nothing but sensational.  I think the decision he’s made is a financial decision based on what’s best for him and his family moving forward, and we pat him on the back and move on.”

He would then go on to make a bold suggestion that Leigh could even strengthen without Asiata, something that would be feasible with the fact his exit frees up a chunk of change on the cap and an all-important quota spot.

“We don’t dwell about it, it is what it is. He’s our captain and we’re going to lose him, but that could make us better as well.”