ADRIAN LAM has realised just “how lucky” he is to be coaching son Lachlan after the pair masterminded Leigh Leopards’ Challenge Cup triumph.
And he had reaffirmed his commitment to the club, regardless of any opportunities that may arise elsewhere.
Leigh won the trophy for the first time since 1971 on Saturday, as Lachlan kicked the winning field goal – after earlier scoring a try – in golden-point extra time at Wembley to seal a 17-16 success, also winning the Lance Todd Trophy.
“It was a really special moment,” said Adrian, who himself scored a try and a field goal in a Challenge Cup Final win, for Wigan Warriors in 2002 at Murrayfield.
“I’ve had times through this week where I’ve thought about how lucky I am to have him here for my team, and playing well.
“It was a really weird moment when we went to take the field-goal and the ball was thrown back to him. I just knew he was going to win us the game here.
“I’m really proud of him. I’ve coached him since he was six. The thing that was going through my mind at that moment was that we’ve been in the exact opposite position a number of times and been heartbroken.”
It was the first field goal Lachlan had scored in his professional career, but the 25-year-old said the winning moment was the product of practice.
“We’ve done a lot of work over the last month. It’s the time of year (with knockout games) you want to be playing in,” he said.
“The quality of the competition, you’re going to be in that position at some stage so we’d done a lot of practice on that.
“Gaz (O’Brien) has been our guy. He kicked one a week ago against Leeds and he gets them all the time in training. He doesn’t miss many but he missed that first one.
“He had the trust to throw it back to me to take the kick. It comes back to mateship off the field and the type of people we have around our team, to have that trust.”
His father admitted he would consider returning to Australia to coach in the NRL one day, but that he is committed to Leigh for the foreseeable future.
“Maybe one day, I think so,” said Adrian.
“But I’m the happiest coach in the world at the moment. I love my job. Driving to work every morning I feel so happy that I’m here. I’m re-signed for another year and I don’t want to go anywhere else.
“It’s hard to even think about wanting to leave because of what we’re achieving. I don’t even want to think about it.
“If that opportunity comes up, then we’ll deal with it. But for now I’m grateful that we’ve brought some silverware back to Leigh. It’s been a very long time and they haven’t had much to cheer about.”
On Sunday evening the Leopards paraded the Challenge Cup trophy on a tour of Leigh in front of thousands of their supporters.
