Leigh Leopards suffer huge blow to their title hopes with season-ending injury confirmed

Leigh Leopards have had a brilliant first season back in Super League and Saturday saw them defeat St Helens and progress to the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.

That semi-final against St Helens was incredibly bruising and a brilliant advert for the game but sadly it saw Saints land numerous injuries.

Those included two season ending injuries for Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi however Leigh progressed with a clean bill of health.

That’s a massive boost for the Leopards given they have one of the smallest squads in all of Super League and they’re now competing on all fronts with the prospects of a treble a genuine chance, rather than just a fantasy as many would have expected.

Adrian Lam explained that Joe Wardle is set to return to the fray in their weekend clash against Wigan Warriors, a timely return given that fellow centre Ricky Leutele is set for a period on the sidelines.

“Obviously Ricky Leutele is out long term now which has been confirmed and that’s sad for the club, him, his fans and his family,” Lam told Leigh Leopards Youtube Channel.

“Ricky has got some issues with his vertebrae and bruising of his spinal cords so he’ll need an operation for that, so that could be anything from four months onwards.

“It’s unfortunate but he’s been a massive part of the success of the club and the team this year so we’ll miss him dearly, but like we’ve done with the likes of Kai O’Donnell who is still one week away then we’ll just get on with it.

“We’ll miss Ricky but he’s there or thereabouts in every session.”

Lam further explained what makes the injury so awkward but highlighted that the player welfare was paramount.

“It’s a difficult injury to have because when he’s walking around doing nothing, he feels like he can play. Obviously we’ve done all the checks and scans but it’s just to make sure that the welfare of the player is what we take care of.

“Ricky will be there and support and maybe he’ll sit up in the box with me and watch the rest of the season unfold.”