Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has provided an injury update on his current squad, following their huge injury list before last week’s fixture.
The Leopards were far from full-strength in their Challenge Cup victory over North Wales Crusaders, but still managed to earn a solid victory and progress to the next round.
Speaking ahead of that game, the boss revealed that there were 11 injured players at the club, be it short-term or long-term casualties.
This week, that number has significantly reduced, but there is still a number of men that won’t be taking to the field against Leeds Rhinos.
Lam confirmed his injury list in a press conference previewing the opening round clash with the Rhinos, and gave an overview of how his squad looks ahead of the contest.
Unsurprisingly, David Armstrong is a confirmed absentee. The full-back is continuing his recovery from an ACL injury, and is expected to be back at around round eight.
Aaron Pene will also miss this week’s game, but there is hope that the former Melbourne Storm prop will return before the end of the month.
Lam revealed: “I think [he] will be available for selection from round two, with fingers crossed.
“He’s got through the pre-season in really good shape, probably the best pre-season he’s had, but in the new year, he got a bit of a calf tear, so that delayed him a little bit to being where he wants to be.
“He’s certainly trained well, and we were expecting him to be ready for round one, but he’s not quite there, so we’re hoping for round two or round three at the worst.”
Some players have been named in the initial 21-man squad that are not 100% fit, and Lam explained how he will be giving those people as much time as possible in order to prove their fitness.
“There’s still a lot of players that we can leave right up until kick-off, to settle on the final 17 of the team.
“There’s a handful of them that are 50/50s, so we get the session out of the way today [Thursday] and then make some tough decisions.
“But, I’m happy with the squad. There’s some faces and names in there that have worked really hard to get an opportunity.
“There’s the usual players that certainly are stars of the team, but again how that 17 settles I’m not complete with that yet.”
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Leigh Leopards boss provides update on Umyla Hanley ahead of Leeds Rhinos clash
Their opponents, Leeds, have their own injury issues this week too, with star man Jake Connor one of many absentees from the 21-man squad.
With their opponents being considerably weaker than they would have liked, Lam has a decision to make in regards to whether he risks those players who aren’t 100% fit.
“We’ve got to go as strong as we possibly can, but in the back of my mind, I don’t really want to play anyone who’s at risk, or 50/50, on the negative side.
“We can’t really worry about who’s in the Leeds team, and who’s out. It’s more about us and making sure we get this 2026 Super League campaign off on the front foot.
Matt Davis is one of those ‘risks’, as is Umyla Hanley, who picked up a shoulder issue in the pre-season game against Warrington Wolves.
Lam confirmed that they will be waiting as long as they possibly can to make a decision on if he plays or not, with today’s training session a good marker as to whether he will be able to pull on the jersey.
On Hanley, the boss revealed: “He’s at risk, as well. He had a bit of an A/C injury, but he’s been training back with the team and again, we’ll get through today’s session and see how he pulls up.”
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