Leigh Leopards continued on their march towards the top six with a dominant win over Bradford Bulls in a game that will be best remembered as the day Super League crowned Josh Charnley as the competition’s record try-scorer.
Adrian Lam’s side ran in six tries with Charnley scoring three of them as they won 38-12 to move within two points of the top six and put all those sides ahead of them on notice for the second half of the season.
Both sides were handed blows in their team selection with neither Tesi Niu nor Umyla Hanley passing fitness tests to make the game for the Leopards, whilst Bradford Bulls were without standout playmaker Jayden Nikorima after he picked up a shoulder injury late on in last week’s win over York.
It was an afternoon that was consumed by Josh Charnley becoming the Super League record-scorer but on a team level, the win means Leigh move to within two points of the top six as Adrian Lam’s side continue to march up the table with their sixth win in seven games.
A tense first ten minutes led to Adam Cook opting to take the two instead of risking it but Charnley would score the first of his three tries just minutes later as Leigh opened up an 8-0 lead. The winger would score again before the half to level the record before breaking it following tries from Chris Atkin and Innes Senior.
Caleb Aekins hit back but any hopes of a comeback were quickly ended as Bailey Hodgson scored Leigh’s fifth try of the day, with Louis Brogan adding the sixth shortly after to wrap up an impressive win for the Leopards.
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Bradford Bulls and Leigh Leopards talking points
Leigh close in
After a slow start to the season, Leigh are now closing in on the top six with the Leopards just two points shy of the top six and looking like they’re the red-hot favourites to capitalise on any slip ups from those above them.
Six wins from seven highlight just how strong that form is but the tough test starts now with Hull KR away their next fixture before a run that also includes an away trip to Toulouse and a meeting against Warringon Wolves at Magic Weekend.
Three wins from three there will almost certainly guarantee them a top six berth and the worrying thing for those above Leigh is that they’re still without some key players, namely Umyla Hanley and Tesi Niu.
Charnley enters the history books
Few expected Danny McGuire’s record of 247 would be touched but Ryan Hall went and broke it, but now Josh Charnley has overtaken the Leeds Rhinos man in incredible fashion as he becomes the all-time Super League top try-scorer.
A hat-trick for Charnley saw him move to 272 Super League tries and into the history books and it was a typical Josh Charnley hat-trick. He chased hard after Adam Cook’s chip kick and grabbed the ball before grounding for try number 270.
Try 271, the record-equaller, saw him break three tackles from a near-standing start before his record-breaker, try number 272, saw him support Adam Cook’s break to walk in to make history.
Unfortunately for Charnley, his afternoon ended in injury with the winger limping off just after the hour with an apparent ankle injury.
Misfiring Bulls attack
Kurt Haggerty will have watched the first half in pure frustration at the amount of chances that the Bulls spurned with the hosts having so much good territory but simply doing nothing with it as passes went to ground, went into touch, and generally went anywhere but their intended target.
Whilst the second half was better in terms of attack, the ball still went to ground far too much with a key moment in the game being Zac Fulton’s break, supported by Ethan Ryan, ending with a knock-on rather than an easy breakaway score to make it a two-score game, as it should have been.
Caleb Aekins proved dangerous throughout as he often does with his score in the second half the highlight as he supported an Andy Ackers break but the Bulls’ inability to execute on the final tackle will disappoint their head coach.
Cook on the boil
After a slow start to life in Super League, no doubt due to the huge adjustment personally and professionally, Adam Cook has really started to gain some form and momentum in the past few weeks to the point where he is now surely one of the competition’s most in-form players.
Whilst his own form is exceptional, it’s also elevating the performance of other players as Lachlan Lam is more free than previously, whilst Cook’s outside edge players have also seen their game lift with Jacob Alick-Wiencke a prime example.
Josh Charnley also was the big beneficiary today with Cook’s kick assisting his first and he was key in the record-equalling second, whilst his step made the room to break free and tee up Charnley for the record-breaking try.
As Leigh head into the second half of the season, it’s fair to say they’re still getting better and a big part of that is the form of Adam Cook.
Bulls lose key man in frustrating manner
Bradford Bulls were well in the arm wrestle early on and a key reason was prop forward Eribe Doro, who was making plenty of metres marching down the middle.
The forward then went down with what appeared to be a neck issue leading to him being forced from the field for a head injury assessment, however, Doro was not wearing one of the instrumented mouthguards that can check the level of force in a tackle.
As a result, he was an automatic fail on that HIA which obviously hampered the Bulls today but will also rule the former Hull KR man out of next week’s game against Catalans Dragons.
Rare referee injury
We’re accustomed to players suffering injuries and being forced off but it’s rare you see the same happen for a referee, however, that’s exactly what happened at Odsal today in quite a bizarre situation.
Referee Jack Smith seemed to collide with Leigh’s Jacob Alick-Wiencke with the match official appearing to pick up an ankle injury, leaving him unable to continue, and forcing his substitution with Tara Jones stepping into the fold for the final seven minutes of the game. Certainly one for the collector’s book.
What a win for @LeighLeopardsRL 🙌#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/KSbFWGG1wc
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) June 14, 2026
