Leigh Leopards set for ‘aggressive’ recruitment ahead of Super League deadline

Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has confirmed the club’s salary cap status and teased ‘aggressive’ recruitment in the coming weeks.

Super League clubs have until the start of August to make signings for the current season, with deals prevented beyond that point. Leigh are one of the clubs in Super League who still have salary cap to play with and Adrian Lam has confirmed his club could make a play in the coming weeks.

Having signed Joe Ofahengaue from Parramatta Eels mid-season, Lam revealed that there is still money in the bank for the club to strengthen.

“Yeah, we have,” the head coach responded when asked whether they had space on the cap, noting mid-season recruitment as: “Something that I think we do as good as any other club as well.”

The dynamics have changed in recent weeks following Chris Chester’s exit, however, Lam insisted the club still have a ‘pretty good handle’ on it with the process still running smooth.

He said: “I worked really closely with Chris Chester but that baton will be handed on to Derek Beaumont, the owner, and also communications with the CEO and Neil Jukes.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good handle on that at the moment but we do have room to be able to spend some money and we’ll see fit where and when.”

Leigh Leopards with their ‘finger on the pulse’ for new signings

Ahead of the 2025 campaign, many would have suggested that Leigh needed to sign a half-back following Matt Moylan’s shock retirement late last year, however, Ben McNamara has stepped up whilst Gareth O’Brien has played a starring role when fit.

The fact that Josh Charnley has recently been left out of the matchday squads would also suggest that their backs are well-stocked as well, so when asked by Serious About Rugby League if the plan would be to recruit another forward, Lam held his cards close to his chest.

One thing he did ensure was that the club would “be aggressive”, pointing to their recent history.

The Leigh Leopards coach redponded: “I’ve got some opinions on what we need and we’ll be aggressive on that at the right time when that right player comes available in whatever position that is.

“I think we’ve been more aggressive than any other club over the last three off-seasons with around 12 or 13 players coming and going. So, you can tell and see from us that we’ve certainly had an agenda and a five-year plan and it’s on track at the moment.”

On recruitment generally, he added: “It’s something that we’re always got our finger on the pulse with that and nothing will change moving forward.”