Beaumont defends Brierley omission

Leigh owner Derek Beaumont has defended the decision to leave Ryan Brierley out against Oldham, saying the club doesn’t need to publicy explain its selection policy.

Writing in the Leigh Observer, Beaumont said it was simply down to competition.

“If it is Rangi next week or Ridy the following it will simply be that the coach has decided a different combination,” he said.

“It was always clear from the offset that there would be competition in the pivots with three people vying for two spots.

“We have three hookers competing, four centres, three wingers and a number of core players all going for places.

“The only person who needs to know why he isn’t playing, and the coach’s reasons for the decisions, and what (if anything) the player needs to work on going forward, is the player himself.

“It has nothing to do with any approaches from other clubs or contract clauses. It was simply a decision by the coach not to select him for this game and whether that is the case next week will be down to Jukesy and his coaching team.

“No player at the club is guaranteed a spot – they all earn it in training and in their performances and Ryan is no different.”

Beaumont hit out at reports on offers being made for Brierley.

“It is unsettling again for us at a time when we are trying to establish certainty and build team morale,” he said.

“This isn’t the only player that a Super League club has unsettled in our camp although I won’t go further into that as we have dealt with it between us but I cannot allow this kind of thing to happen again.”