Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has started to engage in mind games ahead of the clash against Wigan Warriors, suggesting that he’s heard one of Matt Peet’s men will miss out on the game.
Lam will be without plenty of his own players with Edwin Ipape (HIA) and Frankie Halton (ruptured pec) out for the game, the latter for the season, with a number of other players confirmed to be concerns.
However, Lam has now suggested that Wigan winger Liam Marshall may be a doubt, teasing that he still has ‘contacts’ in the Warriors camp from his time as head coach there.
Initially asked about Bevan French in the midst of his return to action last week, Lam spoke about what a ‘handful’ the Wigan playmaker will be before suggesting that Marshall may be absent.
On French, Lam said: “He’s going to be a handful here tomorrow night. He’s playing with his tail up. He’s very confident at the moment. They’ll be buzzing him coming back, and a few other players, Marshall coming back.”
Marshall was one of four, including French, who returned last week but, Lam would add: “Whether Marshall plays or not tomorrow night, I’m hearing there’s a chance that he doesn’t, but there’s a couple of them still coming back into the picture there.”
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The Leigh boss then offered a wry smile when asked if he still had insiders at his former club, responding: “Yeah, I’ve still got some contacts there. Don’t you worry about that.”
One thing that Lam also welcomed was the fact that this was just the second time Leigh would be playing Wigan in 2026, albeit the two games came at opposite ends of the season.
Lam recalled: “I remember the first couple of years, we hadn’t beaten Wigan and then last year, we beat them twice out of the three times. Fortunately, this year, we haven’t played them three times, we’ve played them three times every year since we’ve been promoted back up, but only one home and away this year.
“They certainly gave us a lesson in one of those early rounds. I think it was round three that we played him and we don’t play him now until round 21 but like I said, there’ll be no better atmosphere tomorrow night than at this stadium.”
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