EDWIN IPAPE believes Leigh Leopards are now a different beast as they prepare to return to the scene of a play-off massacre one year ago.
Leigh lost 38-0 to Wigan Warriors in last season’s semi-final and will be back at The Brick Community Stadium on Friday after an excellent home eliminator win over Wakefield Trinity.
The fixture may be identical but the Leopards this time travel with two wins over their local rivals already in the bank this season – 1-0 in golden-point on the opening night of their season in Wigan, then 18-8 at home in July – and having finished only one place and three points shy in the table.
“Last time around we went to Wigan and we got embarrassed there, so we wouldn’t want to repeat the same thing,” said Ipape.
“We’ve got a good group of boys here this year. It’s definitely different from what we had last year, so hopefully we can get the result.
“This year we’ve got a better side, and we’re still getting better. Everybody has played their part in different aspects and added to the team. Everyone has done their job and that’s why the team is in a good spot.
“We’ve got a big hurdle to overcome. But we’ve got confidence, knowing we can get our game on and we can cause some damage.”
Leigh showed their maturity against Wakefield to dominate the tie.
“We had a good year and to play in front of our home fans for the first time for a play-off game was awesome,” added Ipape.
“We knew we had to turn up, play as a team and make defence our focus.
“The way we played was very pleasing.”