Leigh Leopards will look to build on their opening day win over Wigan Warriors when they host Huddersfield Giants this afternoon. The Leopards edged out Wigan in golden point at the Brick Community Stadium and Adrian Lam’s side will be hoping to see a similarly impressive performance against the Giants.
Huddersfield will be travelling in the hope of finding their first success of the season after losing narrowly against Warrington Wolves last time out. The Giants looked capable of causing an upset in that game for large periods but ultimately fell short against Sam Burgess’ side.
Both sides have plenty to prove then, but how will they line up?
Well, Leigh will be without Josh Charnley after the winger was withdrawn at half-time in last week’s game at Wigan. Charnley had been struggling with an injury over the final few weeks of pre-season and the winger was unable to continue on the opening day.
His absence leaves the door open for Baily Hodgson to get the nod on the wing, although new arrival AJ Towse is certainly an option.
Edwin Ipape came off the bench last week after his shoulder surgery in pre-season and he looked the part. If he’s fit enough to play bigger minutes, he could start for the Leopards. That would see Brad Dwyer moved to the bench and asked to play a role he is more than familiar with.
Lam won’t be considering too many more changes, though, with last week’s performance being enough to thrill the head coach.
Huddersfield already find themselves in an injury crisis and with Danny Richardson going back to parent club Hull KR and Harry Rushton dropping out after his head knock last week, Robinson has more decisions to make.
The head coach has already claimed that young playmaker George Flanagan is the frontrunner for the number seven role and therefore he gets the nod in our predicted side. You can expect the rest of Huddersfield’s starting line-up to remain constant, while Jack Billington, who can play in a number of positions across the pack could be asked to take up the vacant bench spot.
Predicted Leigh Leopards line-up: David Armstrong; Keanan Brand, Tesi Niu, Umyla Hanley, Bailey Hodgson; Gareth O’Brien, Lachlan Lam; Owen Trout, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern; Frankie Halton, Ethan O’Neill; Isaac Liu.
Bench: Brad Dwyer, Alec Tuitavake, Matt Davis, Jack Hughes.
Predicted Huddersfield Giants line-up: Jacob Gagai; Adam Swift, Jake Bibby, Sam Hewitt, Elliot Wallis; Tui Lolohea, George Flanagan; Oliver Wilson, Zac Woolford, Tom Burgess; Jack Murchie, Joe Greenwood, Leroy Cudjoe.
Bench: Fenton Rogers, Matty English, Ashton Golding, Jack Billington.
