Leigh Leopards injury news: Ricky Leutele timeframe revealed by Adrian Lam following surgery

Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam has revealed that star centre Ricky Leutele has undergone surgery on his spinal cord injury.

Former Samoa international Leutele suffered the injury in their win at Salford three weeks ago, and has since had his spinal cord operated on.

Lam previously revealed that Leutele would play no further part this season, and has now confirmed that the star centre will be sidelined for around four months.

“It is a very serious injury,” Lam said in his weekly press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Leeds Rhinos.

“In the (Salford) game he had a bit of pins and needles in both feet and both hands, and lost a little bit of power in his legs so it is a really dangerous one.

“It is one of those ones that when he’s not playing there’s no symptoms for it, so it would be an easy one to just keep playing, but we did all the testing and we found that there’s a little bit of bruising on his spinal cord which is a real danger for him or any player.

“A lot of players have that disc fusions to be able to make sure it doesn’t get in that way again in the future so Ricky has had that operation, is back in training and is walking normal.

“There looks like there’s nothing wrong with him to be honest but it will take four months minimum for him to get back to where he needs to be.

“It’s very important that we look after the best interests of the player first and foremost.”

Adrian Lam delighted son Lachlan is staying at Leigh Leopards for the long-term

Earlier this week, the Leopards announced that star half-back Lachlan Lam had put pen to paper on a contract extension until the end of the 2025 season, fending off interest from elsewhere in Super League and the NRL.

The Papua New Guinea international has been one of the standout half-backs in Super League this season, playing in all 23 of Leigh’s games.

Adrian Lam said: “It’s just the best news that we could possibly have this week leading into next week with the Challenge Cup final.

“It’s taken some getting there but we’ve reached it, he’s agreed and it’s put a massive smile on my face.

“I know he’s a popular member of the squad and he’s a leader within the group and I know all of our fans are really happy about it.

“It’s cleared his mind up too, it’s important that the players you need secured get done quickly, especially with the important weeks coming up and I think the timing of that has been perfect.”

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