Leigh Leopards star reveals bizarre reason for outrageous Super League form

Leigh Leopards entered the top six for the first time this season following their win over Warrington Wolves, with Adrian Lam’s side having won eight from their last nine games.

It has been a remarkable season turnaround from the Leopards, who had lost six from their first seven league games at the start of 2024 due to an injury-ravaged first couple of months.

And Leigh looked to last year for inspiration to keep that belief and confidence within their camp that they could turn their fortunes around, according to forward Matt Davis, with Leigh having won 15 from 17 games in their run up to their Challenge Cup final appearance at Wembley in 2023.

Leigh’s only defeats during that period last year came against Catalans Dragons and Wigan Warriors: and they’d won nine games in a row across all competitions from April 16 to June 18, 2023.

And, speaking exclusively to Love Rugby League after Leigh’s 16-12 win over Warrington on Friday night, Davis revealed they used last year’s impressive stats for inspiration towards the back end of this season, with the Leopards currently sixth in the Super League ladder and on track to make the play-offs with just three games of the regular season remaining.

Davis said: “There was a bit of a stat that we spoke about earlier on in the year. Last season when obviously we didn’t have the injuries – that if you flipped the seasons on the head – last year we had that good run and we sort of got our wins earlier doors but then after the Challenge Cup final we dropped off a little bit as teams often do, so we kind of flipped it on its head and said ‘right, if we go and win these games towards the back end’ (that it would kind of be our seasons reversed)…

“I think we are like eight from nine now, then we’ll stand a chance (of making the play-offs).

“But a few weeks back, if someone told us that we’d be in sixth, it’s cliché but we’d have probably bitten their hand off. I suppose it’s testament to us boys that we are going week-to-week and trying to rip in for each other and we know that a few of our players are leaving at the end of the season that are really good mates and we want to finish well for those boys that have put so much into the club over the past few years.”

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Matt Davis: Every game is like a final for us now

But in no way are the Leopards resting on their laurels, with Lam’s side taking on Castleford Tigers (A), Hull Kingston Rovers (H) and St Helens (H) in final three games of the regular campaign as they look to secure a play-off berth.

“We’ve got Cas away on Friday, they’re all Friday night games, it literally is a Grand Final next week Cas away, and then the week after it’s a Grand Final and the week after that because it’s the play-offs isn’t it?” Davis told Love Rugby League.

“Like if we don’t win these games, we’re done, we’re finished on the 20th September and that’s our season finished and we don’t get anything out of it and players are moving on, and I think after what we did last season it would make it pretty tough to finish like that, so every game is like a final now and that’s how we’ve got to see it to make the play-offs because, at the end of the day, it’s on us isn’t it? Because if we win our games, you’d have thought we’d just about get in there.”

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It’s cliché, but it has truly been a season of two halves for the Leopards. And, given how their season has played out, Davis says it would be a special achievement for the club to make the play-offs: and they want to send their departing players out on a high.

“It would mean a helluva lot (to make the play-offs),” Davis added.

“I think there are plenty of reasons, some people wrote us off but we’ve sort of known in our four walls that we’re capable, we’re a good enough team and we showed that last season.

“I think even before the season started, people wrote us off and it would mean a lot. I’ll go back to the lads that are leaving, it would be massive for them to make that and just have that last opportunity together as a team but, looking back two or three months ago, I think we were like 10th so to come from the injuries and the performances, we’ve been building slowly.

“We know we’ve still got gears to go, like we completed at 60 per cent in that first half (against Warrington), and in the finals you’ve got to be at 80 plus to be even in with a shout of winning the game so we do have to nail some bits and work on it in training and be better focused in games to win these next few games.”

Leigh will look to strengthen their place in the top six when they travel to the Jungle to face Castleford on Friday night in Round 25.

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