Leigh Centurions coach Adrian Lam reckons Saturday’s 1895 Cup final against Featherstone Rovers will provide a good gauge of the progress his side are making under his guidance.
The high-noon clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is part of a double-header with the Challenge Cup final between Huddersfield Giants and Lam’s former employers Wigan Warriors at 3pm.
Both Leigh, relegated last season, and Brian McDermott’s Featherstone, beaten by Toulouse Olympique in the Million Pound Game, are targeting promotion from the Championship.
The pair, each of whom have made recent high-profile additions to already-strong squads, are favourites to appear in this year’s Million Pound Game, with a place in Super League the prize.
Should that happen, it would be their fifth meeting, with league clashes to come at Leigh on Monday, June 13 and Headingley at the Summer Bash on Saturday, July 30.
Featherstone were 26-6 winners in the second round of Championship games in February, but Leigh have now had time to gel.
“It was a fairly new group from the start of the year, so it will take some time,” said Lam, who is also the assistant coach of Australia.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but we understand the process and the journey, and it will take us all year to get it right.
“Hopefully by October (the Million Pound Game is on the first weekend of that month), we will be where we need to be.”
Ex-Salford utility back Krisnan Inu, former Australia and New South Wales winger Blake Ferguson and forwards Kai O’Donnell (from Burleigh Bears) and Fiji international Ben Nakubuwai (from Norths Devils) have been recruited since that first meeting with Featherstone.
“We have to make sure we keep building the group,” added Lam.
“We started the season with only a small squad. We’re up to 26 now so closer to where we want to be.”
Lam is particularly pleased with Inu, who has played for both New Zealand and Samoa.
“Krisnan’s got a great voice, as in a leadership voice, and quality and experience behind it,” he explained.
“He talks and communicates, carries the ball well and is a great goalkicker, with a percentage in the high nineties.”
While Featherstone are unbeaten in the league this season, Mark Kheirallah, the France international who has joined them along with former Toulouse teammate, Cook Islands halfback Johnathon Ford, said: “We still have things to work on.
“Being tested by high-quality teams like Leigh will help us progress.”
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