Super League coach continues to ban key word

Leigh Leopards defeated Castleford Tigers last night to continue their impressive start to the season.

Speaking after the game, coach Adrian Lam gave his assessment of the display.

“I thought the second half was nearly seamless for us really. It was really controlled and just great,” Lam said on Leigh’s YouTube channel.

“The first half was frustrating at times but I think we’re learning how to play ugly and win as well.

“The first half was too many errors but you get that following the week off, a little rusty but I was pleased with the way we responded.”

In the last two games it has taken until the 50 minute mark for Lam to make his substitutions, Lam explained that: “It’s just tactical I guess but I guess it changes every week for me, and also they determine that at times.

“Our middles have been going really good for us and the only way to get them fitter is for them to play longer so they’ve been getting the benefits out of it.”

On the second half, he added: “I thought we adjusted really really well. Was it four tries in the second half, it was absolutely perfect I think.

“Castleford only played the ball in our half seven times in forty minutes which is incredible so it just shows the dominance I guess from that second half.”

“No one really stood out for me, everyone was on par and that’s what we want as a team. It was a well rounded team performance so far.”

Leigh are firmly in the play-off picture at present after many backed them for relegation.

Asked about this, Lam said: “There’s that R word again.

“We set a goal at the start of the season not to talk about it and not to look back and I think we’ve handled that really well so far.

“We’re trying to keep our feet grounded and enjoying the wins as we go along.

“I think someone mentioned about Leigh’s time in Super League, I think the record is six wins. I’m not sure on that exactly but there’s some feedback on that tonight.

“It’s more about working hard as a group, working hard on the journey and enjoying the ride so far.

“It’s taken us 11 weeks to get in there so it’s been a real tough grind but we’re in there outright I believe and that’s just down to hard work.

“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves and we understand that we’ve got to go to Huddersfield next week, who it doesn’t look like they played well tonight, so that’s going to be a massive challenge for us.

“They’ll want to respond but it’s just week by week for us here at moment. We’ve got a really small squad so we’re just trying to manage that the best we can.

“I think I’ve got the bench on tonight to play some big minutes in that second half once the game was done and we’ve jut got to pat ourselves on the back whilst it’s there, embrace it and then head down, arse up and keep going.”

Lam also gave an update on Ben Nakubuwai:

“Yeah he was 50/50 and probably could have played at a chance tonight but I just thought at home give some more chance to the players that have been on the bench there.

“I didn’t want to rush him back in because we’ve got a really tough period coming.

“Every week is tough but there’s no point in rushing him back if he’s only going to miss two or three weeks, especially with the Challenge Cup coming up as well.”