Crazy News Day

 

Rebuild for 2027

When Leigh builds a good team, the foundations invariably get removed from underneath them. 2024 witnessed the disbanding of the Challenge Cup-winning team, with the departures of Asiata, Amone and O'Donnell. 2026 will see the pack decimated by Mulhern and Trout leaving for new adventures. Owen Trout electing to move to the Cronula Sharks is a bit easier to understand than Robbie Mulhern choosing to go to Castleford. Good luck Owen you deserve your chance in the NRL.

The Leopards, on the other hand, are left trying to find British props in a competitive Super League market. The overseas quota space will need to be filled by a dynamic Prop, ready to come straight into the starting 13. Lammy's focus needs to switch to the remaining players who are out of contract at the end of the season. Umyla Hanley was the success story, but losing Mulhern and Trout makes it imperative that Bailey Hodgson remains at the club. As discussed yesterday, there are questions over Issac Liu Leopards are Massive: Where is Issac Liu?

Leigh Leopards are Underdogs!

Predictions from the pundits and journalist time. With the Super League launch set for kick-off on Thursday, it is compulsory to make predictions about how the upcoming season will pan out. In essence, most people are of the opinion that the top 6 is between 9 different clubs. It is, of course, guesswork and not real analysis as for were the teams will finally settle. The betting odds for the top 4 are as follows:

• 1st Place: Wigan Warriors – 2/1
• 2nd Place: Hull KR – 11/5
• 3rd Place: Leeds Rhinos – 11/2
• 4th Place: St Helens – 7/1

Picking Wigan, Saints and Leeds would appear on any prediction list from the last 30 years. In many ways, it is lazy punditry. Hull KR, of course, must be in the reckoning having managed the incredible feat of attaining the treble. 

In 2022, St Helens won their fourth final in a row, but the team has been in decline since. 2023 saw them finish in 3rd on the same points as Wigan and Catalans. In 2024, they only just managed to squeeze into the play-offs on the same points as Catalans Dragons, who finished 7th. St Helens were 12 points off 2nd place Hull KR. The Saints won only 15 games out of 27, far below the expectations of their fans. 2025 was another disappointing season with a slightly more acceptable 17 wins out of 27 games. A change of coach and a large-scale recruitment (for St Helens), and now everybody expects them to be winners again. Saints have recruited well in Klemmer and Hastings, but have lost the rock of the team with the departure of Morgan Knowles. The team are expected to attack from any position, but in the last few years, the Saints have relied on defence. Changing tack will come with it's own dangers, and somebody is going to have to make up for the 40+ tackles Knowles would make in a game. The biggest issues with St Helens in the last few years are a lack of a cutting edge in attack and the lack of a settled spine. Lomax is still at the club, but he may be an unsettling influence on the team. Alex Walmsley and Mark Percival are likely to be on the wane. Not surprisingly, Percival has been offered to other clubs to keep out of the way. Welsby appears to be the chosen Full-back but last season he was well below his usual high standard. The Ashes highlighted a player struggling mentally and physically. Tristan Sailor is not a winger or a stand-off. His only major skill appears to be blistering pace. He offers very little in defence, and teams will target his channel. Jackson Hastings will be the lightning rod for the team, but after a number of years back in the NRL, he is not the player he once was. There is talent throughout this squad, but there are also weaknesses. They will probably relish piling the points on the bottom 6 teams, but history suggests they now struggle against the top 4 and Warrington. There are just too many question marks against this team to assume that the Saints are back. As a side issue, the new captain Matty Lees is set to missthe first 8 weeks of the season.

Love Rugby League are just typical of lazy punditry - Super League predictions: Our writers tip Leeds Rhinos for title. Leeds Rhinos are another team the pundits love to love. In reality, they have had a rubbish decade so far, and are still grappling with the issues of salary cap and NRL poaching. They have a team to compete with anybody, but the squad appears to have a large number of academy players who are not quite ready to make the step up. Without injuries, they are incredibly dangerous, but if required to delve into the lower squad numbers, they might well struggle.

Aaron Bower has followed a familiar trope and suggests that Leigh Leopards will slip out of the play-offs (hopefully, Aaron wants a Derek Humble Pie). Matt Shaw oddly mirrors my predictions with Leigh to finish top and Wigan to drop out of the top 2. I was not brave enough to make the call that the Grand Finalists of the last two seasons would both finish without home sem-finals.

What is Lammy Talking About?

Love Rugby League Leigh Leopards boss bemoans ruck speed rule changes for 2026 interview with Adrian Lam. I have read the law changes but I have no idea what he is complaining about. 

"It was confirmed ahead of the start of the 2026 campaign that players would now be forbidden from encroaching within ten metres of any opponent that is waiting for the ball. They must also surrender when an opponent gains possession of the ball."

Lying on the ruck is a straightforward issue, and I am happy with how it is officiated in 2026. Not sure how Lammy thinks the game was fast enough last season, or why lying on the floor behind the play the ball is considered to be ok.