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.

Headhunters (and not the PNG variety)

 

Two weeks until the start of the 2026 season, we are still dealing with recruitment and retention for 2027. Leopards are Massive: Salary Cap, Retention & Recruitment written less than two weeks ago is already out of date.

Players and agents have a full year to negotiate the next move or new contract. Most of the current activity is based around Leeds and Leigh, two clubs that finished in the top 4 last season. Leeds have seen James McDonnell and Harry Newman get NRL booty calls from the newly formed Perth Bears. Former Leeds captain Cam Smith is going to the slightly less glamorous Wakefield Trinity. In previous years, you might have expected these kinds of players to see out their playing days at a large club like Leeds. The Rhinos are no longer exempt from having players headhunted.

Leigh Leopards are a few weeks behind the curve, although they did see Ethan O'Neill choose Headingley for the new season despite still having a year left on his contract. Rumours suggest a falling out, and  Lammy can be just as ruthless as Willie Peters if people are not toeing the line. Leigh have had to deal with survival uncertainty since being promoted. Contracts of two years became the norm, with neither club nor player wanting to commit to longer deals. With security comes longer contracts; the best example is Edwin Ipape, who signed with Leigh until the end of the 2031 season. Wigan have mitigated against the NRL clubs raiding all their young talent, including Brad O'Neill, Jake Wardle Kaide Ellis, Sam Walters and in much demand Junior Nsemba.

Leigh have managed to secure Umyla Hanley, but lost Robbie Mulhern to the Castleford Tigers. Chris Chester, with his insider knowledge manged to secure Mulhern. From the outside, the deciding factors would appear to be a return to West Yorkshire and a lengthy contract at 3 years. This will take Robbie to his 35th birthday, and a date with destiny as to whether to retire or continue. Leigh have often chosen the safer option with contract lengths when players are in their thirties. John Asiata, when aged 31, was offered a 3-year contract with Hull FC or a 2-year contract at Leigh. John has missed chunks of the last two seasons, and it remains to be seen whether Leigh or Hull FC got that call right.

Owen Trout appeared to have agreed terms with Leigh 2 weeks ago. The contract remains unsigned, and interest has come from both the NRL and Super League. Gut feeling suggests he is probably heading to the Southern Hemisphere for next year, with Cronulla Sharks and Perth Bears both expressing an interest. 

Lammy remains relatively chilled about the situation, as he did when Leigh lost Tom Amone, Kai O'Donnell, Zak Hardaker and John Asiata. The policy is to bring young talent under the age of 25, from the Australian Cup competitions. Leeds, by contrast, will look to the academy to blood some more youngsters.

Salary Cap, Retention & Recruitment

 

Changes to the Super League recruitment policy came into force this year. The contracts run from 1st December to the end of November. Anybody with less than a year remaining on the contract is allowed to talk to any club. This has led to both Harry Newman and James McDonnell (Rhinos) negotiating contracts with the NRL for the start of season 2027. This has resulted in a free-for-all, with demand high due to expansion in both Super League and NRL. Bradford, York and Toulouse in Super League and the Perth Bears next year in the NRL before the PNG Chiefs are added in 2028.

Super League is hampered by the Salary Cap Leopards are Massive: Director of Rugby and Salary Cap and player values rising, it was inevitable that a little relaxation of rules came into effect for the 2026 Season. Ten overseas slots are now available per Super League team, and the best deals are being found in the NRL lower divisions (NSW and Queensland Cups). This, with a relaxation in Visa restrictions, allows players under 25 to be able to pick up visas more easily. Umyla Hanley, who picked up a Dream Team selection for 2025 as seen his stock rise. Owen Trout, who picked up an England cap for his 20-minute stint against Australia, is also in demand. Hanley has officially been announced as retained for an extra 2 years (2028), Owen Trout was revealed by Love Rugby League, Leigh Leopards land major contract boost as star forward re-signs but not officially by the club. Both players can expect significant uplifts in their salaries. What is not clear is whether the new contracts come into effect immediately, making them 3-year contracts or 1+2 contracts. For the general fan this is not really important, but for the club, it will change the ongoing Salary cap. Derek Beaumont, talking about the 2026 season, stated that he had spent every penny of the cap.

All Out Rugby League in November highlighted that Leigh had 13 players with contracts set to expire at the end of the 2026 season Every Leigh Leopards contract situation with 13 without deals beyond 2026 | All Out Rugby League. The relative importance can be broken down depending on a number of factors:

1. Upcoming young talent: Umyla Hanley, Owen Trout, Bailey Hodgson, Robbie Mulhern
2. Older players with less demand: Josh Charnley, Gaz O'Brien,  Issac Liu
3. Replaceable players on short contracts: Jack Hughes, Ben McNamara, Aaron Pene, Brad Martin

Hanley and Trout are both now sorted, with NRL and Super League fended off for now. Bailey Hodgson and Robbie are the next most important. Issac Liu is vitally important but I am guessing the "Iceman" will be chilled about extending or returning to Australia, depending on how he and his family have settled in.

Josh Charnley and Gaz O'Brien will be playing for contracts, but may see diminished game time. They will then go into an algorithm about value against the potential number of games they will play.

The players in category 3 will need to wait to see if they have been replaced by younger or better models.

It is a juggling act, and it is easy to see why Leigh has a vacancy for the Head of Rugby; it will take some of the stress off Lammy and Jukesy.