LEIGH LEOPARDS owner Derek Beaumont has explained that Ethan O’Neill’s exit was down to salary cap pressures after the popular backrower swapped the Leigh Sports Village for Headingley.
O’Neill, who only joined Leigh ahead of the 2025 Super League season, has signed a three-year deal with Leeds Rhinos after impressing in his 22 appearances for the Leopards.
Beaumont went on to explain why O’Neill left for Leeds halfway through his two-year deal at Leigh.
“Take Ethan O’Neill as an example, Ethan is a champion bloke. He is a favourite of our fans but Ethan was unfortunately unable to push into that spot and, balancing everything around, that’s where Adrian got to,” Beaumont told Leopards TV.
“They had an honest conversation. We were aware Leeds had an interest and we were honest with Ethan to the detriment of us.”
Beaumont then went further, explaining how the form of some of the lesser-paid members of the squad impacts the group as a whole.
“Lammy has his saying that ‘winning takes care of everything’ and I thought we came very close last season,” Beaumont continued.
“We actually believed at the beginning of the season we could have got there and it was very fine margins in the Wigan game.
“It’s always a case of having to strive for improvements and that’s down to the coach to see the areas that can be slightly strengthened or where we can create more competition.
“The difficulty is that it’s a salary cap sport, which it needs to be. But there are only so many players we can keep in the squad and we get players wanted by other teams because our coach is very good at developing players
“I will use Umyla Hanley as an example. He was released by Wigan and Adrian had seen something in him and then created a player that was turned into a Dream Team player.
“He is contracted with us next year but is that at the right level? The players want rewarding correctly, it’s a moving target all the time.
“The more people want to bid for your players, the more they increase in value. You unfortunately have to let people go, even though they are contracted.
“That’s always a tough decision but Adrian is extremely honest and I think that’s the biggest asset to any coach. Players just want to know.”