Leigh Leopards coach provides update on injured trio ahead of Wigan Warriors semi-final

Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam has provided an injury update on three of his sidelined players ahead of Saturday’s semi-final against Wigan Warriors.

The Leopards will be without winger Josh Charnley and back-rower Frankie Halton for Saturday’s trip across the borough due to concussion protocol.

Halton failed a head injury assessment in the early stages of last weekend’s win over Salford, whilst Charnley was stretchered from the field in a neck brace before being taken to hospital, where he was given the all-clear a few hours later: but the club confirmed that he will stood down for 12 days with player welfare paramount.

“Josh failed the HIA the other night – a category one – which means he’ll miss 12 days, so he’ll miss this week,” Lam said in his pre-match press conference.

“But health-wise, he’s okay, he’s up and moving, he’s been training with us so he’s in a good place.”

Leigh Leopards boss delivers injury update on Kai O’Donnell

Meanwhile, Leigh were without influential Kai O’Donnell last week due to a rib injury, with the Australian back-rower losing his ever-present status in 2024.

Lam said O’Donnell had yet to be given the all-clear to feature at the time of writing (Wednesday afternoon), but he will see specialists prior to Saturday’s trip to Wigan, with a final call to be made later in the week.

“I think he’s been one of the best players in Super League and probably deserved to be in that Dream Team in that back-row position,” Lam said of O’Donnell.

“So with Kai, we are going to give him right up until kick-off to be available and to see where he sits.

“He’s got to see a specialist towards the end of the week so all of that is in front of us so it’s a bit of a disrupted week for the group with Frankie Halton, Kai O’Donnell and Josh Charnley (out), so we’ll manage that day to day as we go along.

“He just got a whack in behind his ribs, so he’s got bruised ribs and it’s bruised his kidney as well, so we’re just waiting to get a second opinion from the specialists at the back end of the week.

“He’s a tough player and the ultimate professional. I’d question if there is anyone more professional than him in the game in Super League over here, it’s obviously not sat well with him (that he is injured) and it’s one that got him right in the last minute of the game against St Helens, so it is what it is at the moment. We’re working really hard to try and get through that but we’ll see how that pans out.”

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So who will be the players to fill the void left by Charnley and Halton, and possibly O’Donnell?

“There’s a couple of boys that are in contention,” Lam told Love Rugby League. “Obviously there’s Bailey Hodgson, Keanan Brand and Ben McNamara who is in that bench position.

“We can shuffle players out, it’s a situation that we’ve got to make sure what suits us best.

“With back-rowers, Oli Holmes is available, Jack Hughes, Zak Hardaker played in the back-row last week so there are a couple of different ways we can go about it. We’ll settle with that as this week unfolds.”

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