Hansen: ‘It’s really special for me to captain Leigh’

Harrison Hansen says it is a huge honour to captain Leigh and that the Centurions have kept their Super League standards this year.

Centurions coach Neil Jukes handed Hansen the captaincy in the off-season after club legend Micky Higham retired.

And Hansen, 32, says being club captain means a lot to him.

He told loverugbyleague.com: “It’ a huge honour for me on a personal note because I’m taking over from Micky (Higham).

“I’ve known Micky a long time – nearly my whole career – I played with him at Wigan and Leigh so I’ve got the upmost respect for him.

“It is really special to me to take over captaincy. I’m prepared to lead these boys around.”

Leigh failed to avoid relegation in their first season back in Super League in 2017, losing at home to Catalans Dragons in the Million Pound Game.

And Hansen admitted that it was devastating to lose to Catalans Dragons in the Million Pound Game and suffer relegation but thinks it could turn out quite well for the club in the long run.

He added: “I was devastated because I had a lot of mates who lost their jobs and that was a tough one to take but maybe it was a blessing in disguise because it gave Derek (Beaumont) a chance to rebuild the club as a whole and look at areas where we needed to improve.

“The fact we have been able to recruit staff like Chris Baron (England strength and conditioning coach) and top players is huge for Leigh and it’s a building block for the future.

“Everything that we are doing at the moment – we are doing it as a Super League standard club.

“We are going to keep our Super League standards and maintain them throughout the year and hopefully that will stand us in good stead for the back end of the year.”