LEIGH LEOPARDS head coach Arian Lam has admitted that he turned down “a lot of offers” from Super League and NRL clubs to take over after signing a new three-year deal with the Leopards.
Lam had been linked to the likes of South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL as well as Hull FC in Super League, but he rejected all approaches to extend his contract with the Leigh club.
Currently in his third season at the Leigh Sports Village, Lam secured a record-breaking treble-winning promotion season from the Championship in 2022, before leading the Leopards to a Challenge Cup win and fifth place Super League finish in 2023.
For that, the ex-Wigan Warriors boss earned the Super League Coach of the Year for the second time in four years.
But, whilst the likes of John Asiata, Zak Hardaker and Oliver Holmes are all departing the Leigh Sports Village at the end of the 2024 season, Lam has decided to stay put amidst offers from elsewhere.
“I think I described it as ‘outside noise’,” Lam told Leopards TV.
“There were a lot of offers from the NRL and from Super League. So, it was a tough decision in the sense of having to balance everything out, but I got to the right one in the end and again, I’m just grateful for what we have here.
“I know the club hasn’t had much to cheer about over a long period of time in the sense of winning trophies, but we’ve certainly done that in the last couple of years and hopefully we can keep working hard and achieve a few more of those.”
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