Leigh Leopards notebook: Bailey Hodgson verdict, Tom Aspinall support, Darnell McIntosh impact
From left to right: Bailey Hodgson, Tom Aspinall and Darnell McIntosh
Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam met with the media following their impressive 46-4 win over St Helens on Friday night, discussing several talking points.
Lam discussed the club’s new signing Bailey Hodgson, Darnell McIntosh’s impact, Gareth O’Brien’s injury blow, healthy selection headaches and their support for local UFC fighter Tom Aspinall.
Here’s the review and rundown of everything that was said in Lam’s post-match press conference..
Bailey Hodgson verdict
Earlier this week, the Leopards announced the immediate signing of English utility back Hodgson from NRL side Manly Sea Eagles on a deal until the end of the 2026 season.
“Just on that signing and others to come, I think it’s definitely a sign of what we’re looking towards in the future – youth, speed, X factor,” Lam told Love Rugby League.
“His arrival – whenever that will be in the near future – will be certainly great for the club and I’m looking forward to working with him and trying to get him to the next level as a young player as well, so I’m very excited.”
Hodgson is primarily a fullback, but is comfortable playing on the wing or at centre, so where does Lam see him playing for his side?
“I’ve got headaches as it is with not being able to pick Zak Hardaker tonight (against St Helens), so how that pans out with Bailey, we’ll make that decision once he arrives here so there’ll be a process there,” Lam replied. “But we’re just grateful that he’s part of our young team moving forward that has that speed and X factor.”
Darnell McIntosh’s impact
Winger McIntosh had to bide his time for an opportunity in Lam’s 17 following his arrival from Hull FC earlier this season: but he has impressed in recent weeks, scoring three tries in five games. He also took on the kicking duties in their win over St Helens, kicking six goals.
“He’s been practicing over the last month and he’s been quite the sharpshooter,” Lam said of McIntosh. “Obviously Matty Moylan had a slight strain to his groin last week and only came back this week, so we made a decision that McIntosh was going to kick.
“I think he kicked six so it was handy to have him there. I thought his game was outstanding. He’s made the team and he’s playing some really good rugby.”
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Supporting Tom Aspinall as a club
Following their eight-try win over Saints on Friday night, the Leigh squad went along to support local UFC fighter and Leopards fan Aspinall in his heavyweight title fight in Manchester on Saturday night, which he won, making it a fantastic sporting weekend for the town.
Lam said: “For us, we’ve got a really important night tomorrow (Saturday) night. We’re going to support one of our local (UFC) fighter Tom Aspinall as a group and that’ll be a great experience.”
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Healthy selection headaches
Lam’s squad endured an injury-ravaged first half of the season, but he was able to name his strongest squad of the season, with the experienced Zak Hardaker even missing out on selection.
“That’s probably our strongest team we’ve had (available) this year so that helps too,” Lam said. “I think it was just an attitude we needed to have against one of the best clubs over the last couple of years, so I’m really pleased.
“It was obviously a selection headache during the last two or three weeks and he’s (Hardaker) played a lot of minutes and a lot of time this year, so we made that decision to rest him this week and he missed out but things may change every week on that, we’ll see how it goes.”
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The front-row of Tom Amone, Edwin Ipape and Robbie Mulhern
Lam heaped praise on his starting front-rowers Tom Amone and Robbie Mulhern following their win over Saints as well as the impressive Edwin Ipape at hooker.
“I think when they’re on together, they’re as good as any in Super League or in the world,” Lam added.
“Edwin Ipape’s defence and the other two guys – the way they carried the ball – was just outstanding. We needed to have that tonight to be able to overcome the Saints.
“Robbie played for England at the end of last year and I think he got the man of the match. Tom Amone was a front-rower in the Super League Dream Team last year and Edwin was in there as well, so it’s a pretty formidable pack but unfortunately we haven’t had that line-up (too many times this year), I think we’ve had it three times this season, so that’s how important they are to this team, and when they do play, we can do anything if we’re focused.
“It’s good that we’ve got the win tonight against a really aggressive team so hopefully it’s onwards and upwards from here.”
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Gareth O’Brien blow
The only negative to come out of Leigh’s huge win over Saints was the blow to key halfback Gareth O’Brien, who failed a head injury assessment in the second half and will therefore be unavailable for Thursday’s trip to Castleford due to the concussion protocol.
Lam said: “Gaz is not really well at the moment so I think he’s on his way to hospital which is not good news, but we’ve got to make sure that we take care of him in the next 24 hours to make sure he’s okay.
“There was a couple of other niggles which we’ll assess over the weekend, but there was nothing to major, I’m hoping.”
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