Leigh Leopards to test if they’re the ‘real deal’ as Lam welcomes tough schedule

Leigh Leopards will find out if they’re the real deal in the next few weeks according to Adrian Lam, starting at Headingley on Friday night when they take on Leeds Rhinos.

The winner of that game will end the round in third place in Super League and for Leigh, it could see them open up a three-point gap on fourth.

For Adrian Lam, it represents the biggest game of the season so far: “If we can get there and find a way to win, it’ll be a massive, massive victory for us in the season, no doubt about it.

“I think this will be as big as any game that we’ve had this year. I know round one for us was massive at Wigan but this is going to be just as big.”

Leigh Leopards coach slams fixture scheduling

The Leigh Leopards coach was speaking to the media ahead of that clash against Leeds, the first time the sides meet this season which was something else Lam took issue with.

“I don’t get it,” he said bluntly when asked about the fixture scheduling.

“I’m a stickler for old school. I think we should play everyone once. I think we should play everyone twice and then play the last group at the very end. That’s how you get an even ladder. That’s how you get an even performance.

“We’ve played Catalan three times before we’ve played leagues once. How does that make sense? It only makes sense that you would play everyone once and then play everyone twice before you’ve played some zones three times, not the other way around. That’s just common sense.”

The fixture run is set to get very tough for Leigh with the Leopards facing the other four sides in the current top four in their next four games, starting on Friday.

Rather than seeing it as off-putting, the Leigh coach is embracing it: “I want to see it as an opportunity for us to make a statement and to perform well and play well and show everyone that we are the real deal as opposed to these close matches and allowing some points in.

“In the next six weeks, the team that’s third or fourth could be eighth. The team that’s sixth could be ninth or tenth. That’s how close it is. I think anything can happen but we’re in control of that, we feel.”

Adrian Lam encourages Leigh to push further as he outlines mentality shift

Having moved up to third just last week, Lam is in no mood to sacrifice it, nor is he content with peaking at third.

He argued: “We’ve worked hard to get into third spot, and as I said, I think the mentality here at Leigh in the past is be happy to be here, but the way that we see it as a club is that we want to strive to be better, that we want to be the best in the competition.

“Now that might take four weeks, it might take four months, it might take four years, whatever that is, but I want everyone to start thinking slightly differently, and that’s getting the best out of each other and wanting to be the best team.

“These opportunities that present themselves now over the next six weeks are exciting, and hopefully we can get through that in good shape, and then we can readjust and reassess where we are then to see how much of a real deal we are or if we’ve got a little bit of work to do.”

One man who looks to be key in that over the next four weeks, four months and possibly even four years, given he’s contracted for the next three, is full-back David Armstrong and Lam offered an injury update on the speedster.

“It’s a week-to-week proposition with Davey and us as a club,” he explained.

“He’s a tough kid, and we haven’t seen the best of him yet, but he’s certainly had some influential touches in matches of late, and that’s why he’s so important for us to play him, whether he’s 50 per cent, 60 per cent or 100 per cent.

“It’s something that’s ongoing and our medical team’s working really hard to make sure that he gets to a position where he hasn’t been yet, and who knows what he could get to once he gets his body right. We’re pretty excited with him.”