Ryan Brierley opens up on tough conversations with Derek Beaumont

Ryan Brierley said goodbye to the Leigh Centurions for a second time in his career at the end of the 2021 Super League season.

After returning to the Leigh Sports Village where it all began ahead of the 2021 season, Brierley and the Centurions soon found the going tough, winning just two games all year.

For the 29-year-old playmaker, however, leaving Leigh again was a hard decision.

“It was vey tough to leave Leigh, everyone knows my love for the club, they always gave me my first chance in rugby league,” Brierley told Serious About Rugby League.

“It’s probably the place I would call home, but for me and my career I had to do the right thing by that and the right thing was staying in Super League.

“From a team perspective the season didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to – I wanted to finish my career off at Leigh and my full intention was to do that.

“Obviously things didn’t work out the way I planned and that’s often the case.”

Known for his outspoken nature, chairman and owner Derek Beaumont has often been in the public eye, but Brierley opened up on his relationship with him.

“Derek has always been fine with me, we had plenty of arguments last year but only through the passion of wanting to win games and wanting to win for Leigh Centurions – I think that’s healthy and how it should be.

“He probably saw me as one of his senior players and I like to think my performances reflected the respect on both sides.

“I’ll stay in touch with him going forward, we’ve exchanged messages and phone calls since the last day of the season.

“It’s no big secret, me and Derek speak often and I’ve always said I wanted to see my career off in Leigh or Salford.

“You never know our paths might cross again.”