Leigh Leopards tipped for Grand Final by rival Super League coach

In-form Leigh Leopards have been touted as a dark horse to win the Grand Final by a rival Super League head coach.

Following Hull KR’s defeat to Wigan on Friday night, it means that Leigh are officially the form team in the competition with the Leopards winning nine of their last ten games. In fact, their last two losses have come against champions Wigan, proving that only the very best have been good enough to beat Adrian Lam’s side.

That brilliant run of form has seen them surge into the play-offs, cracking the top six for the first time all season last week when they defeated Warrington Wolves. They followed that up with a resounding 34-12 win over Castleford Tigers and now the Tigers’ head coach has tipped them as a team that can win the lot.

Speaking post-game, Lingard explained: “I said weeks ago, I think probably the last time we played Leigh, they were outside the play-offs and it looked very difficult time for them to get in, but I said at the time, if they could get into the playoffs and get fifth or sixth then they could go all the way and win it. ”

“I think they’re that good. I really do.”

That previous meeting between Cas and Leigh that Lingard refers to saw the Leopards win 20-10 with Josh Charnley picking up another brace in his pursuit of Super League’s all-time try-scoring record.

Can Leigh Leopards ‘go all the way’?

For Leigh to go all the way to Old Trafford, they must first secure their play-off position and with games against Hull KR and St Helens, that’s a tough ask. Their final game of the year against Saints could very well be a ‘Win and in’ type situation.

St Helens are currently going through the sort of injury crisis that plagued Leigh at the start of the season and it’s no surprise that the Leopards’ form has sky-rocketed since the return of their stars, and now Craig Lingard has argued that if Adrian Lam’s side can stay healthy then they ‘can go all the way’.

“I think you look at the middle unit that they’ve got with Asiata, Mulhern and Amone. There was no Ipape today but he’ll come back in,” Lingard explained.

“They’ve got strike on their edges, Lachlan Lam and whoever partners him at half-back, whether it’s Moylan or O’Brien, means they have got threats across the park with wingers who can finish tries as well.

“If they can remain injury-free, which I think has played a big part in their resurgence and also why they started the season so slow with a lot of injuries, then I think if they stay fit they can go all the way.”

If it wasn’t for the dramatic draw between Castleford Tigers and Leigh Leopards earlier in the season, the Leopards would be sitting in fourth and potentially set for a home Super League play-off fixture for the first time in their history.