Leigh Leopards confirm reason behind collapse of overseas star’s move ahead of 2025
Ben Condon in action for Manly Sea Eagles
Leigh Leopards have confirmed that Australian ace Ben Condon will no longer be joining them from Manly Sea Eagles in 2025 having failed a medical assessment.
Condon, who has 17 NRL appearances to his name having donned a shirt at first-grade level Down Under for the North Queensland Cowboys as well as Manly, saw his signing announced by Leigh last month.
The Roma-born forward had put pen to paper on a two-year deal with Adrian Lam’s side, and was the third signing that Leigh had announced ahead of next season.
But he will not be donning Leopard print in Super League come 2025, with the club confirming the same in a press release on Sunday afternoon.
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Leigh Leopards confirm reason behind collapse of overseas star’s move ahead of 2025
That press release details that the club’s medical team carried out an assessment of his medical records, and identified an accident that the 24-year-old has had which resulted in injuries that concern them.
As a result of that medical check, Leigh say ‘it was not possible to continue with the move’ over from the NRL.
The Leopards now have another quota spot freed up and will be able to dip back into the overseas market, with Head of Rugby Chris Chester saying: “It’s a blow to our preparations for next season to lose a signing of Ben’s quality.
“We had really high aspirations for him, and we hold that focus that it can happen in the future.
“Part of any signing involves due diligence and, unfortunately, after the unfortunate accident in which Ben was involved, we were unable to proceed.
“Ben is a really good guy and we wish him well.”
Leigh boss Lam has also added David Armstrong (Newcastle Knights), Isaac Liu (Gold Coast Titans), Tesi Niu (Dolphins), Ryan Brown (Wigan Warriors), Brad Martin (Castleford Tigers), AJ Towse (York), Andrew Badrock (Swinton Lions), Will Brough (Wakefield Trinity) and Ethan O’Neill (Burleigh Bears) to his squad ahead of 2025.
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