Adrian Lam has provided an injury update on three of his key forwards, as Leigh Leopards prepare to face Warrington Wolves on Saturday afternoon.
The Leopards looked back to their best last week, as they clinically dismantled a sorrowful Castleford Tigers side. Keanan Brand and Alec Tuitavake both crossed for doubles as they emerged 46-6 victors.
Missing from that winning side though, were key trio Owen Trout, Joe Ofahengaue and Ethan O’Neill, who are all sidelined by injury.
Coach Lam, however, has provided some promising news on the trio, as they look to return to the field in the coming weeks.
“Trout’s a big chance of coming back into the play somewhere along the line. There’s a 50/50 call on Ofahengaue and O’Neill as well,” said Lam in his pre-match press conference.
“We’re going to have to wait until captain’s run so until Friday, probably up to the last minute on that one maybe even up to game time.”
With such a crucial end to the season coming up, Lam was asked whether it was worth the risk putting players into the fold who aren’t 100%, risking them to aggravate the issue and miss further, more important matches
He said: “I think the type of injury plays a part in the decisions on those sort of 50/50’s. Trout, I think he’ll probably be more 60/40 that he will play. Ethan and Joe Ofahengaue will be probably the other side of that coin. Like I said, we’ll give them every chance to be available for that game.
“You want to play them as much as you can as you roll into the finals. Last week was a guaranteed lock-in for the top six for 2025 for us, which is something we’ve never achieved so early in the season with three games to go… We’re doing some good stuff, but we’ve got to just keep pushing hard.”
Leigh Leopards boss praises star halfback after standout season.
Leading the Super League assist charts with a whopping 38 is Lachlan Lam. The son of coach Adrian has eight assists in his last two games, and is in the form of his life as he looks to guide the Leopards to a top four finish.
Lam analysed his son’s, and halfbacks, influence on the team, before joking that if he doesn’t tally multiple assists a game he gets grounded!
Lam Snr said: “He’s been one of the best halves in the competition every year that he’s been here. He certainly plays a massive part in our team. But, the great thing about Lachy, slightly different to some of the other teams is that he turns up on both sides of the field and does what he does.
“A lot of the other halves don’t roam around or move around like he does. Our system’s based around different variations and opportunities and, by doing that – I think Gaz O’Brien, Lachy Lam and Edwin Ipape probably played their best game together as a trio all year, last week, which there’s some great signs there. The challenge now is to try and get that pushed into this week, rolling into Saints, rolling into Huddersfield, then the finals are here so timing for them are good, and Lachy’s been unbelievable with that.
