Leigh Leopards name squad for Warrington Wolves clash with five key men out

Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam
Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has named a strong 26-man squad for his side’s upcoming pre-season clash with Warrington Wolves, but five key men miss out.
Hooker Edwin Ipape was an expected absentee following his shoulder surgery during the off-season, however, they are also without England international Robbie Mulhern, Darnel McIntosh and Josh Charnley.
Ben Nakubuwai is also missing from the squad after returning from a brief stint at Featherstone Rovers at the end of last season.
Leigh Leopards name squad for Wire pre-season clash
Whilst Lam will be without some of his frontline players, he has still named a strong-looking squad for the pre-season friendly which includes headline recruit David Armstrong.
The former Newcastle Knights back is one of 10 new Leopards in the side, with Tesi Niu, Isaac Liu, Alec Tuitavake, Ethan O’Neil, Brad Martin, Andrew Badrock, AJ Towse, Ryan Brown and Will Brough also named in the wider squad.
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Whilst the focus will be on the new recruits across the squad, familiar faces Lachlan Lam, Gareth O’Brien, Umyla Hanley, Owen Trout, Frankie Halton, Aaron Pene, Matt Davies, Brad Dwyer and Keanan Brand also make the squad.
Lam is yet to name his starting side, but from the outlook 24-man squad it seems the head coach will go full noise from the start. That will likely mean Armstrong, Lam, O’Brien and Liu will all start together in the spine, with Dwyer expected to start at hooker for the injured Ipape.
With no Mulhern and Nakubuwai though, Trout and Pene will likely start in the front-row with Tuitavake coming off the bench.
The backline does pose a few more questions though, particularly on the wing. Hanley has tasted minutes on the wing before his switch to the centres, so will likely start there, and former York man Towse is also an option to start on the wing too.
Leigh Leopards squad to face Warrington Wolves in full
1 David Armstrong, 3 Tesi Niu, 4 Umyla Hanley, 6 Gareth O’Brien, 7 Lachlan Lam, 8 Owen Trout, 11 Frankie Halton, 12 Jack Hughes, 13 Isaac Liu, 14 Aaron Pene, 15 Alec Tuitavake, 16 Matt Davies, 17 Brad Dwyer, 18 Keanan Brand, 19 Louis Brogan, 20 Ethan O’Neil, 21 Andrew Badrock, 22 Ben McNamara, 23 Nathan Wilde, 24 Bailey Hodgson, 26 Kavan Rathwell, 27 Jack Darbyshire, 28 Brad Martin, 29 AJ Towse, 30 Ryan Brown,
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