Leigh Leopards coach issues Matt Moylan injury update ahead of Wigan Warriors clash
Matt Moylan in action for Leigh Leopards in 2024
Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam says the fitness of star man Matt Moylan still hangs in the balance ahead of Tuesday’s night’s crunch clash with neighbours Wigan Warriors.
Moylan picked up a rib cartilage issue during Leigh’s thumping 46-4 victory at home against St Helens on July 26, and missed the Leopards’ 20-10 win at Castleford Tigers last Thursday night as a result.
The Leopards travel across the borough to Wigan on Tuesday night (August 6) in a Round 2 clash rescheduled due to the Warriors’ involvement in the World Club Challenge back in February.
If the Leythers can make it five wins in a row and pick up a first victory away against Wigan since August 1983, they’ll move to within three competition points of the Super League play-off spots.
Matt Peet’s men meanwhile could move back top of the ladder with a win of their own.
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Leigh Leopards coach issues Matt Moylan injury update ahead of Wigan Warriors clash
Post-match at Castleford, Leigh boss Lam admitted Moylan’s chances of returning for Tuesday evening’s trip to The Brick Community Stadium were 50/50.
And in Monday afternoon’s pre-match press conference, he revealed nothing had changed on that front.
The Leopards will already be without both prop Tom Amone and utility back Gaz O’Brien as they observe concussion-related protocols following failed HIA’s.
Lam said: “It’s still the case (that Moylan’s 50/50).
“We’ll make that decision just before kick-off, but obviously there’s still no Tom Amone and no Gaz O’Brien.
“We’ve got a few key players out there, but it makes it all the more interesting for fans.”
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Lam talks impact of short turnaround
Due to Tuesday’s game having to be rescheduled, Leigh have had to contend with three games in the space of just 10 days.
Following on from Thursday’s win at Castleford, the trip across the borough will be the second of those, with a home game against Hull FC to come on Sunday afternoon (August 11).
Accordingly, Lam and his backroom team will see very little of their squad in-between games, with Monday morning’s training session the first time they’ve been together since Thursday night’s journey home from The Jungle.
The Papua New Guinean chief detailed: “You can bring them in, but there’s no point really, because you need the rest and the down time to get away from rugby in my experience.
“Each club are different in that respect, but there’s very similar science behind it.
“We’ve had a bit of a run through today, albeit about 30 minutes, so it’s really just muscle memory from the last month of rugby.
“You just have to make sure that your standards are high in these sorts of games because you can get fatigued very easily.
“We’ve got to look forward to a 80-minute performance.”
