Schofield unsure of Cunningham’s appointment at Leigh

Garry Schofield has questioned Leigh’s decision to appoint Keiron Cunningham as the club’s new head of rugby.

The former St Helens coach was appointed last week to replace the club’s owner Derek Beaumont.

It was a move that came out of left-field to most, with Cunningham previously linked with a move to Widnes Vikings.

However, writing in his League Express column ‘Pulling No Punches’, Schofield questioned the move.

“Can anyone tell me what this means exactly? How many coaches do Leigh need? And how will this benefit them? It’s hard to answer any of those questions right now,” Schofield said.

“Keiron got the Saints coaching job because he’d been such a good player. Now he’s being thrown in at the deep end again in a role he has never performed before.

“The Centurions were appalling on Saturday in losing to Hull KR.

Glenn Stewart needs to retire. He’s been a great player, but it’s sad to see the way he’s performing now.

“But what puzzles me most about Leigh is the way they have binned off the brilliant halfback pairing of Martyn Ridyard and Ryan Brierley, when on Saturday they fielded the distinctively average Josh Drinkwater and Daniel Mortimer.

“Their biggest failing is that they just didn’t have enough belief in the players that got them promoted. They were the best team in the Championship by such a distance, beating Super League teams in the Challenge Cup and the Qualifiers, that you can only conclude that had they kept faith in every member of that squad and not signed anybody else, they would have done better than they have done this year.

“Things looked so good for them a year ago, but they’ve blown their shot at the big time and may pay the ultimate price.”