
LEIGH LEOPARDS have made their mark on Super League in 2023 and they earned another comfortable 30-4 win over Wakefield Trinity.
The Leopards survived going down to 11 men at one stage with the likes of Lachlan Lam and Edwin Ipape in irrepressible form.
And it’s fair to say that Leigh boss Adrian Lam was happy about the result.
“I think you train all week on the opposition and prepare a gameplan but when you go down to 12 men for 60 minutes it goes out the window,” Lam said.
“I wanted the half-time siren to sound and for us to be in the same place before we went down to 11 men. In the changing rooms, the boys were gassed, they were hunched over and I think that’s how we have improved over the month, we have just turned up for each other.
“For us it’s a week to week proposition on how we can keep developing as a team and the ladder takes care of itself.”
Going into half-time, Wakefield had an extended period of time on the Leigh line, but the Leopards held firm and Lam hailed it as a “special moment”.
“When we defended our tryline just before half-time it was a special moment for our club. You can’t train those moments, it’s about having trust for one another. The way we scrambled was magnificent.”
Lam also gave his view on both the red card to Ben Reynolds for a punch on David Fifita as well as Tom Nisbet’s yellow card for a hip-drop tackle.
“I need to have a closer look at the red card, I’m just frustrated that Ben Reynolds put himself in the position to be considered to be sent off. I don’t know where the point of contact was with a closed fist, I couldn’t see it clearly.
“The yellow card I was frustrated with, I spoke to the referee then and said the game is going in the wrong direction if players are getting sinbinned for those.
“Losing a player for trying to save a tackle was frustrating. You could see players missing every week for things like that.”
Kai O’Donnell was missing from the first-team line up and Lam explained why.
“Kai O’Donnell strained a back muscle, he had a 50/50 chance of playing today but we didn’t force his hand on that. He is one of those players that never misses training.”