Leigh Centurions head of rugby Chris Chester believes his club is well placed to buck their trend of lasting only one season in Super League.
Leigh are preparing for their fourth top-flight campaign in the summer era after romping to promotion from the Championship.
Super League overseas quota rules mean changes to the squad assembled by Chester and coach Adrian Lam are a must.
As the reshuffle continued, Kiwi prop Mark Ioane moved to Keighley while his fellow frontrower and this year’s co-captain Adam Sidlow joined Salford.
But former Wakefield coach Chester, who was appointed a year ago in the wake of Leigh’s third relegation after a single Super League campaign (the others were in 2005 and 2017), is confident the team which Lam will field in 2023 will be more competitive.
“It’s difficult for sides coming up, but we are here to challenge,” he said.
“Fortunately we have an owner (Derek Beaumont) who is willing to invest.
“I remember him saying he wanted to get to a point halfway through last season where he was confident enough to go and out and recruit.
“He gave the green light for us to do that pretty aggressively and that’s what we have done.
“We have got some exceptional Australian talent and alongside that in the coming weeks, we will be announcing some exceptional English talent as well.”
Speaking to the Leigh Journal, Chester continued: “In terms of recruitment, I have got 25/26 players all ready to go.
“So there are lots of things to be positive about and we are in a stronger position than we have ever been as a club.”
Ex-Wigan coach Lam is currently working with Australia at the World Cup.
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