Leigh Leopards hosted Catalans Dragons in Round Three of Super League and here’s our verdict on how it all unfolded.
It was an easy night for Leigh who picked up their third consecutive win and condemned Catalans to their third successive defeat. Umyla Hanley was the star of the show with the centre scoring a hattrick but each and every Leopard performed well in the 34-6 win.
One of the bigger stories of the night came before kick-off when the team reveals saw two star spine players missing with David Armstrong absent for Leigh, whilst Arthur Mourgue didn’t feature for Catalans Dragons.
With some serious X factor in the sidelines, there could have been concerns that it would be a dull game but that certainly wasn’t the case.
Here’s our verdict on the game.
Leigh Leopards continue perfect start against struggling Catalans
3 from 3 🐆#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/1WD6ou4zU9
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) February 28, 2025
Once the pyrotechnic smoke cleared at the Leigh Sports Village it was Catalans who started fastest and Reimis Smith thought he’d opened the scoring, only to have it ruled out with the video referee judging him held. The video ref was in action minutes later when Umlya Hanley saw his score ruled out.
The Leigh centre wouldn’t be denied a few minutes later though as he crashed over following a brilliant Tesi Niu break. After a ten-minute period where both sides traded blows, the game was blown open when a Catalans’ drop ten yards out was pounced upon by Owen Trout who offloaded to Keanan Brand with the winger running the length of the field for an easy try.
Leigh’s third try was scored by Jack Hughes but came off the back of a brilliant piece of skill from debutant AJ Towse who cleared up a kick by running it out of his own in-goal to the 30 metres to kickstart the attack. Towse tried to show his speed when taking a quick 20 metre restart but was prevented by Jordan Dezaria, earning the Frenchman ten minutes in the sin bin on the eve of half time.
The Leopards made the most of that man advantage with Umyla Hanley stepping full-back Cesar Rouge to score his second on the back of some smart play from Lachlan Lam. The dominance continued and the lead stretched before the hour with Gareth O’Brien popping an offload for Ethan O’Neill to score a deserved try.
Catalans did get on the scoresheet through Alrix Da Costa but it was just a consolation as Leigh went and added another with Umyla Hanley’s brilliant dummy seeing him score his third of the night to make it a resounding 34-6 win.
Good day for
AJ Towse made his Super League debut and the former York Knights man took to the stage excellently. His carries out of back field were strong and he made the third try with his brilliant efforts.
Bad day for
Steve McNamara has proclaimed in the opening rounds that his side were competitive but this game, barring a ten minute period in the first half, wasn’t competitive at all. Injuries aren’t helping the situation but winless from three is a major concern for the Dragons.
Star man
Umyla Hanley didn’t score in the opening two rounds but he made it for it today as he scored three, all of which showed a different asset. His first saw him power over, his second saw him step the full-back and his third saw him pull off a brilliant dummy pass to stroll over untouched.
Teams
Leigh Leopards XIII: Bailey Hodgson, AJ Towse, Tesi Niu, Umyla Hanley, Keanan rand, Gareth O’Brien, Lachlan Lam, Owen Trout, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern, Ethan O’Neill, Jack Hughes, Isaac Liu
Interchanges: Louis Brogan, Alec Tuitavake, Matt Davis, Brad Dwyer
Catalans Dragons XIII: Cesar Rouge, Tommy Makinson, Arthur Romano, Matthieu Laguerre, Nick Cotric, Luke Keary, Reimis Smith, Romain Navarrete, Benjamin Garcia, Julian Bousquet, Bayley Sironen, Elliott Whitehead, Oliver Partington
Interchanges: Tariq Sims, Alrix Da Costa, Jordan Dezaria, Paul Seguier
