Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam sung the praises of Josh Charnley, who impressed on his return to team in a Battle of the Borough win over his former club Wigan Warriors.
Charnley appeared in Lam’s matchday lineup for the first time since May 22 on Friday night, putting up an excellent individual performance to help the Leopards overcome his previous club Wigan 18-8.
There has been much discussion about Charnley’s future beyond this season, but he demonstrated that he still has what it takes to compete at the elite level against Wigan, accumulating 212 metres from 21 carries.
Charnley, who has been out of the Leigh team, has been praised by coach Lam for his professionalism during this difficult time. Lam stated in his post-match press conference, “Josh is a great player, Josh is a great person. We’ve had some really tough conversations about the decisions we’ve made to have him miss out. It’s not easy, but it’s the hardest part of the job, but we’ve been honest, and he’s
Meanwhile, Edwin Ipape had another remarkable effort for the Leopards in their victory over the Warriors, with 11 carries and 17 tackles to go with his try. Surprisingly, Lam stated that the Papua New Guinea international was close to retiring from the game due to injury. “Unbelievable,” Lam stated of Ipape. “He had a 50/50 chance of not playing tonight; we were going to rule him out in the warm-up, and he was close to missing out due to a knee issue.
“When he’s fit, I believe he’s as excellent as any player in this country; he’s clearly the best nine, and when he gets his hands on the ball, he’s just next level. “I’ve been playing him at 13 a little bit, and he comes alive there, you can see the game change a little bit, so I’m excited to see where we can get that to, so watch this space.”
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