ADRIAN LAM believes Bradford Bulls, Toulouse Olympique and York Knights have been a ‘breath of fresh air’ in what the Leigh Leopards boss has declared ‘difficult’ circumstances.
The three promoted sides have all competed hard during the 2026 Super League season, with some big surprises along the way.
One such result was York’s 34-32 win over St Helens last weekend.
“The teams that have come up have been sensational,” said Lam ahead of the visit of York to Leigh on Friday.
“I think it’s been a breath of fresh air to have Bradford, Toulouse and York be a part of Super League this year.
“All three have had massive wins along the year. York beat Saints last week and scored 34 points for example.
“It’s difficult because you’re never guaranteed promotion until you win and they were all in a difficult position because licensing unfolded quite late.
“You’re working off a minimal budget so you can only spend so much before you start having to start spending on Super League players for the season after.
“The plan will be to develop and improve in three to five years like we (Leigh) have done.”
Lam also touched upon Leigh’s own journey both on and off the field, with promotion from the Championship at the end of 2022 coinciding with a rebrand to the Leopards.
A Challenge Cup Final win in 2023 and play-off qualification in every season has seen the club grow exponentially, whilst off the field, owner Derek Beaumont has sought to make the Progress With Unity Stadium the place to be on game day.
“I am extremely proud of where we have come from,” Lam admitted.
“It’s been a tough challenge and even now we have only had the academy and reserve for one year.
“The ultimate goal is to have the young talent coming through the system which we have never had.
“We haven’t been able to use that system when we’ve been promoted and so we have had to go out and be aggressive with our recruitment.
“That’s been a tough challenge for us on and off the field and I don’t know of any club that has grown off the pitch like we have.”