Tonight Leigh are back in Super League but they are no longer the Leigh Centurions but rather the Leigh Leopards.
Having made some outstanding signings such as Zak Hardaker from Leeds Rhinos and beating the likes of Wigan Warriors to Huddersfield Giants centre Ricky Leutele, the Leopards are ready to come back to Super League with a bang.
It is a tough start though as they host last year’s entertainers the Salford Red Devils who made it all the way to the semi-finals in 2022.
They have only strengthened in 2023 as well even signing Leigh’s Sam Stone.
It is a big night too because of the entertainment with the likes of Scouting For Girls performing pre-match.
Subsequently, Leigh owner Derek Beaumont has described the game as the “biggest ever rugby event” in Wigan as he thanked Wigan Council for their support.
He took to Twitter to say:
“Big thanks to Wigan Council for their support of our towns biggest ever rugby event. Been fantastic to have their support which we value.”
Speaking of Wigan, the other club in Wigan the Wigan Warriors are part of the reason for Leigh’s rebrand.
Beaumont said on Talksport: “Really from a commercial point of view, there is a lot of eyes on the sport with IMG and if they’re going to pick 12 clubs we look too similar to our neighbours Wigan.
“You see everywhere, everyone wearing leopard print are getting asked, are you a Leigh fan? People are not wearing leopard print because they’re not wanting to be seen as a Leigh thing.
“The good thing with it is you can use a lot of colours with it, you can utilise different colours, red is our colour so is still in there.”