Krisnan Inu ‘not at all surprised’ by ‘red hot’ Leigh Leopards with reunion on Sunday

Krisnan Inu isn’t surprised in the slightest by the rise of Leigh Leopards having had a starring role in their march back to Super League.

Now assistant coach at Salford Red Devils alongside another former Leigh man in Paul Rowley, Inu last year called time on his playing career after a memorable campaign.

Finishing as the Leythers’ top try scorer and top points scorer, the former winger helped fire the then-Centurions back to the big time. Also lifting the 1895 Cup, Inu praised Adrian Lam’s side ahead of their visit to The Salford Stadium on Sunday.

Krisnan Inu: Leigh are one of the best teams in the comp

He said: “I’m not at all surprised [by their success]. They are a well formed team, Lammy and his staff have done right in their recruiting.

“They have gone out and got people who are suited to their brand of footy, and that brand within the in-house which leads to what they bring on the field.

“It’s a whole different team to last year in a different competition. The Championship is a different level to Super League, it’s still very physical and in that aspect that’s what Leigh have brought up to Super League.

“They’ve brought their physique from the physical side of the Championship straight in, adjusted really well and they’re playing good footy.

“In my eyes, they are probably one of the best teams in the comp at the moment.”

Salford going for three from three against Leigh

Sunday’s game will see a third meeting between Salford and Leigh in 2023. Both previous have come at the Leigh Sports Village and resulted in wins for the Red Devils.

Rowley’s side head into this clash against the Leopards knowing that points are needed if they are to secure a play-off spot.

Former New Zealand international Inu added, “It’s not so much for us a massive focus on adjusting too much to what they’ve got.

“It’s our third time playing them this year, so we’ve just got to stick to what works for us, and that’s our game plan.

“We’ll do what we feel is right to play well against Leigh, and obviously try to stop what they bring. They are the red hot form team at the moment, so there’s a bit of the defensive side that we’ve focused on.

“At the same time, we’ve not turned away from our attack and what we do. [The two wins against them] help, but at the same time it’s a different team to what we are playing this week.

“There are probably five or six players that are in the team that have obviously improved them and helped get those wins they’ve been building over the last four or five weeks.”

Time to stop the rot for Inu

Three appears to be the magic number for the Red Devils, who head into Sunday trying to put an end to their losing streak.

Wigan, Wakefield and Leeds have taken two points off them in consecutive weeks, with Hull KR also knocking them out of the Challenge Cup last month.

Assistant Inu knows how damaging a run like that can be, saying: “It’s a long season, so you can’t really dwell on games for too long because you’ve got to focus on the next one.

“You don’t want to carry that [losing feeling] onto your next game because of the snowball effect mentally. That doesn’t help, so we try not to dwell too much.

“Thinking back two, three, four games, whatever it is, that’s not going to help us perform. I’ve always said in my career that no one is perfect. You’ve always got something to work on, and this week we’ve got certain things to work on leading into Leigh.”

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