LEIGH LEOPARDS head coach Adrian Lam has revealed his club’s aggressive recruitment and retention strategy over the past few seasons.
The Leopards have had turnovers numbering in the double figures in recent seasons since their return to Super League, but that style has certainly served them well as Lam’s men prepare for another semi-final play-off game against Wigan Warriors on Friday.
The likes of John Asiata, Tom Amone, Kai O’Donnell and Zak Hardaker all left ahead of the 2025 season, with many believing the departure of such experience would lead to a downfall this campaign.
In fact, the opposite has been true as Lam has pieced together a brilliant side including new recruits Tesi Niu, Isaac Liu and Joe Ofahengaue that continues to shock the rest of the top flight.
And Lam has hailed his club’s recruitment policy in delivering that success.
“I don’t want to give too much away on our recruitment but there is a philosophy around the style we want to play and the player we want to fill those positions,” Lam said.
“What we did do is get rid of a few experienced players which was hard to do at the time.
“What happens is you have a philosophy of where you want to go but when that time comes the relationship you build with those types of players like Ricky Leutele, Kai O’Donnell, Tom Amone, John Asiata.
“You don’t want to break that relationship so it was very hard to make those decisions when they came but we’ve stuck to it.
“We chose those players for a slightly different style and we will do it again and again until we get it right but that’s part of where we want to be as a club.”