Adrian Lam has admitted that hooker Edwin Ipape has copped a ‘bit of heat’ over his fitness with the Leigh Leopards boss calling on his star man to be more impactful in the coming weeks.
Ipape missed a handful of games early in the season and when speaking to media recently, Adrian Lam revealed that the hooker was at around 60% fitness.
Speaking to Serious About Rugby League at Tuesday’s presser, Lam confirmed that the Papua New Guinean international still isn’t close to 100% but that he’s now starting to demand improvements from Ipape.
“It’s been tough for Edwin with the niggly injuries that he’s had,” Lam admitted.
“I still don’t think he’s at 100% or even 90 or even 80 so there is a bit of heat from me on him now because I need him doing a little bit more than what’s going on in the game.”
On what he wants, he added: “He’s such an important player for us and potentially the player in the Super League that can absolutely carve a team apart so we need a little bit more out of Edwin.
“I’ve had those conversations with him and no doubt in the next month or so we’ll see the best rugby in him but we have had conversations over what I need more out of him, so I’m hoping to see that.”
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Leigh Leopards’ play-off push to go down to the wire
There’s no doubt that a fully fit and on-form Ipape would be among the best hookers in Super League and should he hit those form levels then Leigh’s chase for the top six would certainly be aided.
The Leopards are four points outside of the play-offs and when asked if he feels his side are the team who can break in and disrupt the current top six, Lam agreed.
He said: “We’re a little bit out of that at the moment, but I think a lot of the teams that are in that top six have got to play each other, so they’ve still got the hardest part of the draw to come in the second half of the season, especially the last quarter.
“It may not look like we’re making much ground in the next five or six weeks, but I think in the last seven or so matches, I think there’s going to be a big change in the top six or I hope there will be, whilst we get back to playing our best rugby.
“We’ve just got to make sure we get to that point in good time. There’s a lot of confidence there. We have that trust and belief in each other, and we can go on with it to make that six as a continuous, as we’ve done since our promotion back up.”
Having referenced the number of fixtures in the final few rounds where current top six sides face each other, Lam explained his belief that the play-off race will go down to the wire.
“That’s what it’s going to be, I think,” he agreed, adding: “I still think one or two, three clubs may have a couple of blips in the second half of the season. I’m hoping so, anyway.
“Things will change dramatically as we approach that last quarter.”
