CALLUM WALKER reviews Leigh Leopards’ 2026 season.
The hope
In recent seasons, Leigh head coach Adrian Lam has had to contend with a great deal of upheaval, with players incoming and outgoing numbering double figures.
Ahead of the 2026 season, that wasn’t the case as just five players joined the Leopards and just five left.
Canberra halfback Adam Cook and Gold Coast forward Jacob Alick-Wiencke signed from the NRL alongside Castleford duo Liam Horne and Innes Senior to bolster an already strong squad that had made it to the Super League play-off semi-finals in 2025.
With Leigh owner Derek Beaumont determined to improve the average fan experience at the Sports Village, on and off the field, the Leopards looked prime to strike.
The reality
Though Leigh made it to the play-offs in fifth, winning 17 of their 27 Super League fixtures, they won just four of their opening ten games and crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup to Warrington Wolves.
In fact, they were 13th at one point during the season and only reached fifth in the last two rounds of the regular season. The Leopards eventually went down 26-16 to Grand Final winners Wakefield Trinity in the elimination play-off.
On the player front, it took a while for Adam Cook to settle into the halves, but Cook and Lachlan Lam began forging a fruitful relationship from the midway point in the season.
Eight wins from nine games took the Leopards into the play-offs, but Lam’s men just ran out of steam.
The mid-season signing of Lazarus Vaalepu also seemingly backfired after the ex-Melbourne man played a mere four games before joining Castleford on loan.
Best players
Adam Cook enjoyed a tremendous turnaround in form from the start of the season to the end, but Innes Senior proved to be one of the signings of the season with 18 tries in 31 appearances. The rangy winger also made 3,804 metres, putting him in third in Super League.
Joe Ofahengaue and Umyla Hanley were both named in the Dream Team, despite the latter missing the first chunk of the campaign through injury. Robbie Mulhern also showed up well as usual.
In quotes
“I just want to go home, wake up and start next week as soon as possible. We were very poor and they were very, very good. I’m going to give them an opportunity to respond and hold all of them accountable, it’s not just one or two. They certainly haven’t played their best rugby tonight. There was a lot of softness about us, that’s probably our worst performance in my time as coach of the club.” – Leigh coach Adrian Lam didn’t hold back following his side’s 54-0 loss to Wigan in Round Three.
“It’s a punch in the air for Umyla and absolutely well deserved. He is the ultimate competitor and leads our standards. He competes at the next level and gets what he deserved. He hasn’t been there for half the season and we missed the strike on the edges, but for him to perform like that in the short time he has been back has been superb. He plays with injuries – whether it’s a soft tissue or a hamstring or knee injury, he will play regardless. I absolutely believe that he was one of the best centres in the competition last year. It is inspirational for young British players to look up to someone like that. I still think he has got a few levels to go up.” – Adrian Lam couldn’t hide his pride with Umyla Hanley’s call-up to the England performance squad.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but our job is to make sure we are in a position to compete and we’ve done that as well as anybody over the last four years. We’ve got to work harder than we’ve ever done with that, but we’ll be okay.” – Adrian Lam knows improvement is needed to compete in 2027 after Leigh’s loss to Wakefield in the eliminator play-off.
In numbers
Josh Charnley became Super League’s record try-scorer with his 272nd back in June.
207 – Adam Cook’s points total for Leigh in his first season with the club, putting him in third place in Super League.
3,804 metres Innes Senior made, placing him in third in the competition.
Highlights
A 48-10 thrashing of St Helens in early September was as good as it got for the Leopards, whilst two wins over Warrington Wolves in the space of a month helped elevate Leigh into the play-offs.
Umyla Hanley and Joe Ofahenague earning places in the Super League Dream Team was also to be celebrated, with the former being called up to the 40-man England performance squad ahead of the World Cup – though Hanley didn’t make the 23-man cut.
Their 14 wins out of 17 games towards the back end of the season was also not to be sniffed at.
Lowlights
A 54-0 thrashing by Wigan Warriors in Round Three was by far Leigh’s lowest point in 2026.
A 24-10 loss to Warrington in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals practically ended Leigh’s hopes of winning a trophy.
Bailey Hodgson being ruled out for the season in July following an elbow problem was a bitter pill to swallow after an injury-hit career.
Looking ahead
It’s another rebuild for Leigh and Adrian Lam for 2027.
The Leopards have lost Owen Trout (Cronulla Sharks), Robbie Mulhern (Castleford), Bailey Hodgson (Hull FC), Isaac Liu (Hull FC), Ben McNamara (Castleford), and Jack Hughes (retired). All six played key roles at times last season, with only Tevita Pangai Jr and youngster Jack Purtill joining so far from Hull KR and Wigan respectively.
A fully firing Adam Cook – and one that now knows the ins and outs of Super League – will undoubtedly be a bonus.
As will Lachlan Lam’s dedication to the Leopards cause. The PNG star refused the offer of a World Cup spot to go in for surgery in a bid to help Leigh out at the start of next season.
Expect something bigger and bolder from owner Derek Beaumont as well at home games.
