Cunningham congratulates Dawson and Leigh

St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham has praised former Saint Matty Dawson and the rest of the Leigh team, after the Centurions claimed promotion to Super League at the weekend.

Cunningham feels that the success is well deserved, for both Dawson and Leigh chairman Derek Beaumont.

“I’m really pleased for Matty,” he said.

“Matty’s a great kid, and he came here and did a super job for his time at the club.

“He was probably limited with the amount of games he was going to be playing. A lot of juniors were coming through.

“Life was quite tough for Matty at Saints to get a regular spot.

“The pressure of that expectation weighed on him, and probably the best thing he’s done is move over there and play regular rugby.

“I’m really pleased for him. He’s a champion fella.

“You look at the chairman, Derek Beaumont, he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“He bleeds that club. The money he’s committed to that club to get them where they are is admirable.

“For every Leigh fan and player, and for the game as a whole, it shows that the dream can happen.

“It’s cost him a few quid to make the dream happen, but he’s got over the line, and he deserves for that to happen.

“He just wants to do well with them.”

Cunningham also believes that Leigh will add some entertainment value to Super League, thanks to their attacking style.

“It’ll be good to get Leigh back,” he said.

“They’re a good entertaining side who throw the ball around a lot.

“They take a few risks, and sometimes those risks pay off for them.

“They deserve it and they’ve worked hard for it.”