ADRIAN LAM hailed a “really important win” for Leigh Leopards as they beat Hull KR for the first time in seven attempts.
Their 28-10 win over the Super League leaders was a first success against the Robins since the 2023 Challenge Cup final.
“It’s been a while. It’s a really important win for us as a team,” said coach Lam.
“It just gets us a little bit of momentum as well, and a lot of belief and trust. I’m pretty excited about what’s ahead.
“It was pretty close (to perfect). We kept them in it with a couple of errors so if we can keep working hard on the pressure releases I think we can go to another level as a team.
“It was important to score first. They’re probably number one in the league for dominating the first ten minutes and scoring tries. It was always always going to be a tough, physical game, so I’m pleased with the way the team owned up physically.
“It seemed really tough (in the heat). The players said it was one of the toughest games this year. I thought we prepared really well for that.
“I’m just pleased with the way we defended and the way we attacked. I think it came together for the first time this year at an eight out of ten for us, as opposed to being inconsistent or (performing) for 60 minutes of an 80-minute game.
“We mentioned it (the recent record against Hull KR), like the Wigan one in round one. For us to take that next step forward as a club, we’ve got to win these games.
“We’ve got another tough one on a short turnaround on Thursday against one of the in-form teams of the competition (St Helens) too. It’s going to be really difficult to go there and perform.
“That performance was really important because it’s so close around (positions) three, four and five. We’ve played first and second, we’re third now, and we play fourth next week, so it doesn’t get any easier.
“We can’t fall in love with ourselves. We’ve got to make sure we celebrate today but also keep our feet grounded because it can turn very quickly.”
Leigh are set to be without back-rower Ethan O’Neill for the trip to Saints with a knee injury.
“It looks like a medial ligament strain so we’ll have to see on that,” explained Lam.
The coach was full of praise for the performance of centre Tesi Niu, saying: “I love watching him play and run.
“We got him a lot of early ball today, and when you’re one-on-one with him, I’d hate to be that defender. He’s just robust and rotund, but very explosive.”