EDWIN IPAPE will return to the Leigh Leopards team for next Friday’s showdown with St Helens.
Leigh’s 24-0 defeat at home to Hull KR leaves them sixth heading into the final round of games but requiring a win over Saints at Leigh Sports Village to make sure of their play-off spot.
Papua New Guinea hooker Ipape has missed their past two matches, against Castleford Tigers and Hull KR, with a shoulder injury and Matt Davis has stepped up in his place.
But the key figure will return against St Helens, head coach Adrian Lam has confirmed.
“If it was a final, he would’ve played tonight, but balancing things up, we made a decision that it was either this week or next week,” explained Lam after the Hull KR loss.
“He’s definitely going to be in there next week.”
This weekend could see all kinds of different permutations at play for Leigh, who were ninth at the start of July before a run of nine wins from ten.
But the situation is also a very simple one – beat St Helens and they will definitely be in the play-offs for a second successive season.
“It’s in our hands. This might be good for us, we’ll look at it as a positive,” said Lam.
“We’ll need a response against one of the great teams in the modern era. There’s nothing better than being home next Friday night (competing) to make the six.”
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