Kieron Purtill: We can only concentrate on ourselves

Leigh coach Kieron Purtill says the team can only focus on beating Sheffield next week, with a spot in the Qualifiers now being out of their hands.

The Centurions beat Swinton Lions 50-24 at the Leigh Sports Village on Sunday afternoon.

Leigh are sixth in the Championship table, just one point behind Toulouse Olympique, London Broncos and Halifax, who currently sit in the top four.

And with them now having to rely on results going their way, Purtill insists the team will just concentrate on their last game of the regular campaign next weekend.

He said: “We can’t do anything, it is out of our hands.

“We can only concentrate on next week’s performance and getting better as a team because we weren’t good enough in the second half.

“The other results haven’t gone our way but all we can do is get the win next week and concentrate ourselves. We need consistency because we are struggling to put an 80-minute performance together at the moment.

“We went from being 85% set completion in the first half to 35% in the second half and if you run with 35% completion, you are going to rub your own energy and you are going to give the opposition a chance to get back at you which is what we did.

“We will just concentrate on ourselves and see what happens.”

Leigh front-rower Adam Walne put in a strong display in the middle of the park for the Centurions.

And Purtill was impressed by the recent loan singing.

He added: “I thought he was exceptional.

“He has got better with each game that he has played for us. He hadn’t played for a couple of months before he came, so his game time is now getting up and is a great professional. I am enjoying having him around the place at the moment.

“I thought H [Harrison Hansen] was good again in the middle. It was good to get some game time for the players who have recently come back from their bans but I think Adam was the standout performer.”

According to recent reports down under, Gold Coast Titans have put the blocks on Brendan Elliot’s move to Leigh.

On the situation, Purtill commented: “We are still caught up in paperwork so hopefully we will have something sorted this week on that.”