“Plenty of effort” – Adrian Lam reacts to Leigh Leopards’ eight-try defeat to Wigan

Leigh Leopards were defeated 40-12 by Wigan Warriors in the ‘Battle of the Borough’ but head coach Adrian Lam is taking the positives from the game and even revealed that he is loving the challenge at the moment.

It was a game that very quickly went wrong for the home side with Wigan running in four tries in the opening 30 minutes whilst star Leigh Leopards’ signing Matt Moylan also saw yellow for a high shot on Jai Field.

Ricky Leutele did score on his return to action to make it 20-6 heading into the shed but Wigan proved far too strong and capitalised on Leigh errors with Jai Field’s length-of-the-field score just after halftime effectively killing the game off.

The Leopards did keep fighting with Josh Charnley adding a second but it was a night to forget for the home fans who had piled in to the Leigh Sports Village as Wigan romped home for an eight-try win to return to the top of Super League.

Adrian Lam spoke to Sky Sports in the post-match and expressed his pride in the effort his side put in, whilst noting the tough test that the club are facing at the moment due to a number of injuries.

Lam said: “Well I thought there was plenty of effort tonight and good in patches but just not consistent through the 80 minutes.

“That’s what happens against the top sides if you can’t concentrate for the bigger periods, the longer periods and you get hurt.”

Asked about the effort and attitude of his players, Lam pointed to Josh Charnley’s last-minute chase-down tackle, noting: “You look at Josh Charley chasing back Miski there for that last intercept and that’s the attitude we’ve got. I’m not going to give up hope. They’re a great bunch of lads and they’re trying their hardest at the moment.”

Leigh Leopards going through “challenging time”

Leigh Leopards currently have just one win from six in Super League with that victory coming against Hull FC whilst their Challenge Cup win came against Championship opponents in Featherstone Rovers.

That said, they have been well in several games this season only to lose out and Lam spoke on the highs and lows that the side have gone through: “Like I said, at times we’re awesome and at times we’re not. So we’ve just got to learn from moments like this and just stick together as a group.

“I think the key is just to not look too far ahead. Players are getting an opportunity which they wouldn’t have without these injuries. So I’ve just got to keep backing them on a week-to-week basis.

“It is a challenging time but it’s probably the most enjoyable because that’s exactly what it is. I love it. It’s a little bit different. There’s a lot of soul-searching and a lot of this hope and doubt at times, but you’ve just got to make sure that you stick true to your process and your standards.

“I think these players that are starting for us at the moment probably aren’t quite ready for this every week, but they’re getting that opportunity to learn quickly and I guess get to a point where they need to be sooner rather than later in the time.

“They’re getting big minutes and I’m grateful for that because at some point things are going to turn for us and we’ll be okay.”

With a crowd of 10,308 packed into the LSV, Lam showed appreciation to the fans adding:  “The fans are unbelievable. It’s a great atmosphere here. I think they get it too, the situation that we’re in. They’ve always been supportive regardless of what happens with us. But they’re right behind the boys here and that’s the way I’ve got to be and we’ve all got to be because you know there’s there’s no point in dwelling about what you can’t control.”

Next up for Leigh is a rematch of the Challenge Cup Final as they travel to Craven Park to face Hull KR in this yuear’s quarter-finals, a game that the Leopards are bang up for.

“The result wasn’t in our favour tonight but like I said there’s plenty of effort and there’s another big game next week and it just continues so we’re just going to stay positive,” Lam explained.

“It’s going to be tough again but we’re going to give ourselves a chance and go up there. It’s something that we’re very proud of obviously holding the trophy and we’re going to go up there and give our absolute all and you know if we can do that we’ll go for a chance.”