The two signings Leigh Leopards made that nobody noticed taking recruitment up to 12 players

Last week Leigh Leopards were the team making the headlines.

That’s because of the rebrand sparked by Derek Beaumont as he turned the Leigh Centurions into the Leigh Leopards and released a new logo and a new kit.

It divided opinion but was a statement of intent of a club that has exponential growth within it and started a new era at the Leigh Sports Village.

This new era kick started with a host of exciting new signings with 10 players signing on to be Leopards in 2023.

These included Zak Hardaker and Tom Briscoe from Leeds Rhinos after they played in the 2022 Super League Grand Final.

Meanwhile, Leigh won the race for Huddersfield Giants centre Ricky Leutele as well as adding Castleford Tigers halfback Gareth O’Brien.

Meanwhile, Nathan Wilde was signed from Newcastle Thunder.

The 10 were completed with five signings from Warrington Wolves: Matt Davis, Jack Hughes, Oliver Holmes, Rob Mulhern and Jacob Gannon.

To many then, 10 was the magic number. But that isn’t quite right.

The Centurions also confirmed two more signings that nobody noticed. That was St Helens duo Tom Nisbet and Aaron Smith both of whom signed one-year deals with the Leopards after helping the club to promotion on loan last year.

Smith is a particularly exciting signing as a 2019 Super League Champion as well as the fact he dovetails masterfully with Leigh’s star hooker Edwin Ipape who often comes off the bench to replace Smith.