2025 Leigh Leopards : Thu Jan 02, 2025 4:17 pm
2025 Leigh LeopardsEntering a 4th Year of a 5 year plan, has involved a major reset. The core of the overseas contingent have earned themselves NRL and hefty contracts in Super League. Nobody is quite sure if Lammy and Chezzy have manged to find suitable replacement or upgrades. This season looks very much like a work-in-progress and much depends if a half-back replacement for Matt Moylan can be found.
2024 Season Review
Leigh had it tough at the start of 2024 and lost a large chunk of the 2023 Dream Team players to injury. Trout and Halton had to play big minutes in a reshuffled pack and Brad Dwyer was brought in to fill the gap at hooker. The back line resulted with the introduction of Umyla Hanley and eventually his right-edge partner Darnell McIntosh. Moylan slotted in at Fullback and O’Brien moved up to the halves.
The return of Amone, Ipape and Mulhern, sparked a late surge for the play-offs. The playoff game at Wigan showed how much this effort had taken out of the team and they surrendered meekly to a rampant Wigan.
Transfers Out
John Asiata, Tom Amone, Kai O’Donnell, Zak Hardaker, Olly Holmes, Ed Chamberlain, Matt Moylan, Ricky Leutele, Dan Norman, Jacob Jones, Tom Nisbet, Jacob Gannon, Lewis Baxter
Transfers In
David Armstrong, Isaac Liu, Tessi Niu, Ryan Brown, Brad Martin, AJ Towse, Alec Tuitavake, Ethan O’Neill, Will Brough
Transfer Analysis
Captain John Asiata departs the LSV to be replaced by Issac “The Iceman” Liu. 272 NRL appearances and a nickname of “The Iceman” how bad can he be? The major coup for the Leopards was capturing the signature of David Armstrong on a 3 year contract. Newcastle Knights were pursuing the 23 year old to extend his stay in the NRL, but Davey had a dream of coming to Leigh and being a Superstar.
Tessi Niu, replaces the very popular Ricky Leutele who appears to have been hoodwinked by his own agent. Tom Amone and Kai O’Donnell resume careers in the NRL and it is unsure at this stage if the new recruitments will be able to fill some very big boots.
Ben Condon will not be arriving at the LSV, and with the departure of Tom Nisbet, the number of mullets on the field will be reduced to one.
2025 Predictions
Lammy and Chezzy have so far been able to identify some good signings in the last three years, and the hope is they have identified some good talent. The motto “In Lam fidimus” is never used in Leigh but we do trust our management team.
The Leigh Leopards do, however, tend to start the season slowly. With a multitude of changes and what many believe to be a top halfback partner for Lockie not secured for the start of the season. This may well be another slow start to 2025.
The backs will have some genuine pace, and the forwards look to be more mobile rather than Tom Amone's brute strength. A spine of Armstrong, Lam, O’Brien, Ipape and Liu should be competitive against most teams.
The starting XIII may not be as strong but perhaps the squad has more depth. It would be rather difficult to anticipate a final finishing position, so I have elected a 6th spot as the minimum expected from Adrian Lam and the Leigh faithful.
