Where are they now? Adrian Lam’s first Leigh side from January 2022

Adrian Lam is preparing for his fifth season in charge of Leigh, but where are the players from his very first squad back in 2022 now?

Well, back then, the club were still under the ‘Centurions’ tagline and Lam’s first official squad was named for a clash on home soil against Whitehaven in Round 1 of the 2022 Championship campaign.

Leigh ran out comfortable 50-4 winners, with six different players getting their name on the scoresheet. Will Evans got Haven’s only four points on the day.

Here, we take a look at where the 17 men chosen by Lam on that chilly Sunday afternoon on January 30 are today…

Caleb Aekins

New Zealand-born Aekins – 27 – joined Leigh ahead of 2022, making the move into the British game having previously donned a shirt Down Under for both Penrith Panthers and Canberra Raiders. He scored a try in this game.

Representing Wales in the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup through his heritage, the full-back’s stint at Leigh lasted just a sole season, scoring 21 tries in 32 appearances. He remains in the Championship with Featherstone Rovers today having featured 50 times for the Flatcappers across the last two years.

Kieran Dixon

32-year-old Dixon has now pulled on a shirt for nine different clubs, as well as England Knights. Another of Leigh’s try-scorers in this game, he joined the then-Centurions ahead of 2022 and played just three games for Lam’s side in total.

Spending time on loan at both Widnes and Rochdale Hornets during that year, he made his move to the Vikings a permanent one ahead of 2023 before joining Oldham in 2024. Having lifted the League 1 title the winger remains with the Roughyeds for next season.

Keanan Brand

Spoiler alert: Ireland international Brand – who will turn 26 next week – is actually the only player in this line-up who remains with Leigh heading into the 2025 campaign, and in turn, he’s the club’s longest-serving player. First joining the then-Centurions in 2021 as a loanee from Warrington, he made his move a permanent one ahead of 2022, scoring a try in this Round 1 outing.

Featuring 23 times in the promotion-winning campaign, he’s managed to play just three games for the Leopards in the two seasons which have followed – spending time on loan with Widnes, Barrow and Bradford as well as appearing on Series 9 of ITV’s reality show Love Island.

Nene Macdonald

Port Moresby native Macdonald, 30, made his move into the British game with Leigh in 2022 having featured for Sydney Roosters, Gold Coast Titans, St George Illawarra Dragons, North Queensland Cowboys and Cronulla Sharks in the NRL prior.

The 21-time PNG international scored 27 tries in 27 games to help fire Leigh to promotion, including a hat-trick on debut here. He departed for Leeds Rhinos at the end of the season, and having also spent just a sole season at Headingley, the centre moved on to Salford ahead of 2024, remaining with the Red Devils as we approach the 2025 campaign.

Tom Nisbet

Nisbet also featured as a loanee for Leigh in 2021, and did so again in 2022 – scoring five tries in eight games as Lam’s side won promotion. Two of those tries came here. The 25-year-old then departed parent club St Helens and returned to the Leopards on a permanent basis, but never established himself as a regular in Super League.

Managing a further four games over the course of the last two seasons, he’s also donned a shirt for both Rochdale and Widnes as a loanee. Ahead of 2025, the versatile back has headed Down Under, joining Queensland Cup outfit Townsville Blackhawks.

Ben Reynolds

Reynolds is another who has donned a shirt for nine different clubs to date, but Leigh are by far and away the club he’s made the most appearances for of those – playing 148 games across three stints.

His third and final stint ran from 2021 to 2023, scoring 158 points in the promotion-winning campaign including 14 here via seven successful conversions. After a 2024 campaign which saw him play for three different clubs, he’s recently penned a contract extension at Featherstone which runs until the end of 2027. Reynolds will turn 31 later this month.

Joe Mellor

Partnering Reynolds in the halves was Warrington-born Mellor, who joined Leigh in 2021. Appointed co-captain for 2022, the utility stayed with Leigh until the end of the 2023 campaign when he made the move to fellow Super League side Salford.

Now 34, the veteran needs just three more games to reach the milestone of 300 career appearances having made his senior bow back in 2011 for Harlequins!

Adam Sidlow

Sidlow is another who moved onto Salford following his departure from Leigh, though he did so 12 months before Mellor having made the switch at the end of the 2022 campaign. That move brought an end to a two-year stint with the then-Centurions which saw him make 41 appearances.

Also spending two seasons with the Red Devils, the 37-year-old made his 150th Super League appearance just before the end of the 2024 campaign, and has now joined League 1 outfit Swinton Lions ahead of 2025. His career appearance tally across all competitions stands at 365.

Aaron Smith

Hooker Smith, 28,  arrived at Leigh for a second loan stint in 2022 having previously donned the Centurions’ shirt three years prior. He arrived with pedigree having won the Super League Grand Final with parent club St Helens in 2019, and featured 32 times across all competitions as Lam’s side won promotion.

Earning himself a permanent deal, he’s another that just never established himself as a regular in a Leopards shirt, playing just two games in 2023 – as well as six on loan for Rochdale – before departing on a permanent basis ahead of 2024 when he joined Barrow Raiders. Smith remains with the Cumbrian outfit heading into the upcoming 2025 campaign.

Chris Green

Experienced forward Green, who turned 35 earlier this week, arrived at Leigh ahead of the 2022 campaign having already made over 190 career appearances including 142 for Hull FC.

He would play just twice for the Centurions though. After breaking his arm in Round 2 against Featherstone, Green endured a horror story which involved almost losing his arm entirely to infection, and was forced to retire. He is now an area sales manager for a company that distributes sports medicine in Yorkshire and the North East.

Sam Stone

Two-time Malta international Stone, 27, was one of the handful of players that stuck with Leigh following their relegation at the end of the 2021 campaign. Under Lam, he scored 12 tries in 33 appearances in 2022 and earned himself a move to Salford ahead of 2023.

Having featured for both Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast Titans in the NRL prior to joining Leigh, he remains with the Red Devils in Super League today, making 48 appearances for Paul Rowley’s side to date. Stone’s contract runs until the end of 2026.

Ed Chamberlain

28-year-old utility Chamberlain joined Leigh ahead of 2022 and made 30 appearances across all competitions en-route to promotion. The six-time Ireland international struggled to establish himself as a regular in Super League though, and played just 25 games for the Leopards across the last two seasons.

His search for gametime took him on loan twice to Hull FC in 2024, and Chamberlain has made that move a permanent one ahead of 2025. Notably, his tally of 55 appearances for Leigh remains the highest number of games he’s played for any of his eight clubs to date.

John Asiata

Asiata – 31 – won the NRL Grand Final back in 2015, but was a player self-admittedly thrown a lifeline by Leigh ahead of 2022 having been faced with the reality of his career being over Down Under due to issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccine.

As it turned out, he became a fan favourite in the North West and enjoyed three successful seasons under Lam’s tutelage, lifting the Challenge Cup as Leigh’s captain under the Wembley arch in 2023. After 76 appearances for the club, the Tonga and Samoa international departed at the end of the season just gone and has linked up with Hull FC.

Mark Ioane (Interchange)

Having been with Leigh since 2020, Auckland native Ioane grabbed a try during this game, with that one of eight times he managed to cross the whitewash in 44 appearances for the Centurions.

The 34-year-old – who featured in the NRL for both Gold Coast Titans and St George Illawarra Dragons in the early days of his career – departed the LSV at the end of the 2022 campaign and joined Keighley Cougars. He remains in League 1 with the Cougars for 2025.

Tom Amone (Interchange)

Amone had played a handful of NRL games for South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers when he joined Leigh ahead of the 2022 campaign, but he was far from an NRL-standard prop back then.

Three seasons and 88 appearances later, Lam and Leigh have helped to mould him into just that, with the 28-year-old returning Down Under ahead of 2025. Another firm favourite at the Leopards’ Den, the Westmead-born powerhouse has linked up with Canterbury Bulldogs.

Ata Hingano (Interchange)

Eight-time Tonga international Hingano’s time at Leigh was short and sweet, scoring four tries in 18 appearances in 2022 before heading out on loan to York for the remainder of the campaign.

Having started his career in the NRL with New Zealand Warriors and Canberra Raiders, and also donned a shirt in Super League for Salford, Hingano remains with York today. Having penned a permanent three-year deal ahead of 2023, he has made a total of 45 appearances for the Knights to date.

Jacob Jones (Interchange)

Birmingham-born utility Jones rounds off this 17. Beginning in 2022, he spent a total of three seasons contracted to Leigh, but all 15 of his appearances for the club came in that first year. Featuring on loan for Widnes, Rochdale and London in 2023, he returned to the capital and donned a Broncos shirt for the entire 2024 Super League season, still as a loanee.

The 25-year-old officially parted ways with Leigh at the end of the season just gone, and has now linked up with Championship outfit Doncaster, penning a one-year deal for 2025.

Head coach: Adrian Lam

Lam’s first year at the helm of Leigh saw them lift the 1895 Cup and Championship League Leaders’ Shield before beating Batley Bulldogs on home soil in the second tier’s Grand Final to seal promotion.

2023 then saw the Leopards lift the Challenge Cup for the first time in over 50 years, with Lam also guiding them to a first-ever game in the Super League play-offs.

They then went one better under the Papua New Guinean’s stewardship in 2024, finishing 5th for the second year running but reaching the play-off semi-finals and being denied an inaugural Old Trafford trip only by the all-conquering Wigan Warriors.

The 54-year-old is under lock and key at the Leopards’ Den for the next three seasons, and excitement around the club is arguably higher than ever heading into the 2025 campaign.

Whitehaven’s team from Round 1

Starting 13: Geronimo Doyle, David Eccleston, Jake Moore, Will Evans, Andrew Bulman, Alex Bishop, Nikau Williams, Liam McAvoy, James Newton, Glenn Riley, Ryan King, Liam Cooper, Tom Wilkinson

Bench: Callum Phillips, Dion Aiye, Tom Walker, Kieran Hudson

Head coach: Jonty Gorley