Analysing Leigh Leopards’ spine options for Hull FC clash with key duo sidelined

Drew Darbyshire 09 Aug 2024 5:07 PM

Zak Hardaker, Matt Moylan, Gareth O'Brien, Bailey Hodgson Leigh Leopards Alamy — Leigh Leopards quartet Zak Hardaker, Matt Moylan, Gareth O'Brien and Bailey Hodgson in action

Leigh Leopards will be forced to shuffle their spine when they host Hull FC on Sunday, with star man Matt Moylan sidelined.

Moylan, who has been used as a fullback and halfback this season, left the action at half-time in Leigh’s 28-6 defeat to Wigan Warriors on Tuesday evening.

And speaking in his post-match press conference, Leigh coach Adrian Lam confirmed that Moylan would be ruled out of Sunday’s important clash with Hull.

Moylan’s absence comes as a blow to the player and the Leopards, who are five points away from the top six play-off spots with seven games of the regular season remaining.

With Moylan‘s rib injury and Gareth O’Brien‘s continued absence due to concussion protocol in mind, Lam will have to shuffle his spine around but he has a couple of options. Here’s the primary ones at the Leigh coach’s disposal ahead of their match against Hull at the Leigh Sports Village on Sunday afternoon..

Zak Hardaker to start at fullback

Former Australia international Moylan started at fullback against Wigan on Tuesday, but he only lasted the first 40 before succumbing to his injury, being replaced by substitute Hardaker for the second half.

The likely avenue that Lam would go down would be to keep Hardaker at fullback, with the former Man of Steel playing the full 80 minutes against his future club Hull, you feel.

Other halfback options

This is where it gets tricker for the Leopards, who currently have youngster Ben McNamara sidelined with injury as well as the aforementioned Moylan and O’Brien.

Utility forward Jack Hughes filled the void left by O’Brien at stand-off against Wigan, and whilst he’s not a natural in the halves, he has played there before. Hughes certainly bolsters Leigh’s defensive line out wide, but it does put slightly more pressure on star halfback Lachlan Lam to get their attack firing.

There’s not much the Leopards can do in terms of switching their halves too much this week, so you’d suspect it’s going to be Hughes and Lam in the six and seven roles again.

Hooking options to remain the same

One of Leigh’s strongest positions at the moment is at hooker, with starting nine Edwin Ipape and deputy Brad Dwyer doing a stellar job in the dummy half role and, with both fully fit, that is set to continue as we enter the business end of the season.

Could Bailey Hodgson make his debut?

Hodgson, who has recently linked up with the Leopards from NRL club Manly Sea Eagles on a deal until the end of 2026, has yet to make his debut for the Leopards: but is that about to change?

The 21-year-old, who is the nephew of former England star Josh Hodgson, is primarily a fullback but is comfortable playing on the wing or at centre. So given Leigh’s injuries in the spine, the Hull-born back could be another option for Lam to explore over the next couple of weeks, though you suspect he might not want to change his line-up too much as they make a late surge for the play-offs.

Leigh’s 21: Zak Hardaker, Ricky Leutele, Josh Charnley, Lachlan Lam, Tom Amone, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern, Kai O’Donnell, Jack Hughes, John Asiata, Dan Norman, Matt Davis, Frankie Halton, Owen Trout, Umyla Hanley, Tom Nisbet, Louis Brogan, Brad Dwyer, Darnell McIntosh, Aaron Pene, Bailey Hodgson.

Hull’s 21: Carlos Tuimavave, Herman Ese’ese, Morgan Smith, Will Gardiner, Harvey Barron, Lewis Martin, Zach Jebson, Denive Balmforth, Jack Walker, Logan Moy, Lennon Bursell, Jack Charles, Tom Briscoe, Yusuf Aydin, Tiaki Chan, Jed Cartwright, Will Kirby, Leon Ruan, Sam Eseh, Will Hutchinson, Ryan Westerman.