Leigh Leopards v Catalans Dragons teams as Leopards boss Adrian Lam rings in changes

Leigh Leopards v Catalans Dragons kicks off 2025 Magic Weekend at St James Park in Newcastle and the team news is in.

Leigh got through April with four wins from four games across both Super League and the Challenge Cup with last week’s 28-6 victory over Salford Red Devils closer than expected. However, boss Adrian Lam has numerous injury concerns going into Magic Weekend.

Catalans head coach Steve McNamara and his team enjoyed a successful April too, also getting four victories in the month. Last week’s Golden Point 24-20 win over Wakefield Trinity was a tough contest.

Dubbed as potentially being the closest match of the weekend, the team news for Leigh Leopards and Catalans Dragons is in.

Leigh Leopards v Catalans Dragons teams

Leigh Leopards team news

Head coach Lam has been forced to make multiple changes to the side that beat Salford last time out. Keanen Brand has a soft tissue injury but Tesi Niu comes back into the side. He will hope to continue to the strong form he’s had so far in 2025.

Ben McNamara moves from hooker to halfback as Gareth O’Brien pulled out of the squad and Edwin Ipape returns to the starting line-up.

Jack Hughes is also out so Owen Trout moves from prop to the second row. Joe Ofahengaue comes in at prop to replace Trout.

The Leopards name the same bench as the previous round.

Leigh Leopards XIII: Bailey Hodgson, Darnell McIntosh, Tesi Niu, Andrew Badrock, Josh Charnley, Ben McNamara, Lachlan Lam, Joe Ofahengaue, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern, Ethan O’Neill, Owen Trout, Isaac Liu.

Interchanges: Nathan Wilde, Louis Brogan, Matt Davis, Brad Dwyer.

Catalans Dragons team news

Catalans Dragons head coach McNamara makes just the one change to his side that beat Wakefield in Golden Point last weekend.

Tommy Makinson drops out of the side and Fouad Yaha replaces him on the wing.

Sam Tomkins was named in the 21-man squad but hasn’t been named in the starting line-up. Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet continues at fullback in his absence.

Catalans Dragons XIII: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Fouad Yaha, Matthieu Laguerre, Reimis Smith, Nick Cotric, Luke Keary, Theo Fages, Tevita Pangai Jr, Benjamin Garcia, Julian Bousquet, Tariq Sims, Elliott Whitehead, Oliver Partington.

Interchanges: Alrix Da Costa, Chris Satae, Romain Navarrete, Bayley Sironen.

Who’s ready for #MagicWKND? 🤩@LeighLeopardsRL and @DragonsOfficiel will get us underway in Game One! 👊

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— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 3, 2025