Leigh go into Hull KR vs Leopards with a blunt warning attached: Adrian Lam says they must change their mentality after back-to-back heavy defeats on their last two trips to Craven Park, 12-0 and 30-0. The head coach wants a different response when Leigh return to East Hull.
Lam Targets Craven Park Shift
Lam said the trip has been difficult for years. “It’s always difficult going up there, it has been in the last ten years, regardless of KR being as they are at the moment or as they have been in the past.”
He added that the journey itself adds another layer. “The travel up there on a Friday, getting up there early and changing things around (are all reasons)… they’ve improved as a club and as a team, they’re playing tough and good rugby.”
The Leigh coach was also direct about the squad he has been able to send there. “I’ve always felt in the last three or four years that we haven’t ever been up there with our strongest side.”
Leigh’s Recent Record
Since Lam took charge ahead of the 2022 campaign, Leigh have travelled to Craven Park seven times across all competitions. Their only win in those seven matches was an early 2023 victory, and their most recent two visits ended 12-0 and 30-0.
That record sits alongside a broader run against Hull KR that has tilted heavily the wrong way for Leigh. Leigh and Hull KR have met eight times since the 2023 Challenge Cup final, and Leigh have won only once in those eight meetings, with that victory coming on home soil last season.
Last month, Willie Peters’ Robins beat Leigh 20-16 at the Leopards’ Den, and that defeat was Leigh’s only loss in their last seven outings. The recent form is better than the venue record, but the trip to Craven Park has still been the place where Leigh have struggled to turn tight contests into points.
Injuries And Mentality
Lam said Leigh are again heading east with absences. “We’ve always gone up there with injuries, and we’re doing the same this week. That’s not an excuse, but we haven’t had a full side.”
He framed the visit as another difficult assignment and pointed to the state of the opponent as well. “It’s going to be another tough challenge to go there. No doubt they’ve got some of their own injuries they’re probably still deciding on and finalising.”
For Leigh, the practical issue is not just the scoreline from the last two visits. It is whether they can carry the better parts of this season into a ground where they have won only once in seven attempts since 2022. Lam’s answer was simple: “We need to go up there and change the mentality, it’s something we’re working hard on because we have been beaten the last couple of years there.”
Willie Peters will leave at the end of the season to take charge of new NRL franchise PNG Chiefs, so the immediate focus stays on a meeting that has already become awkward for Leigh. The history offers a reminder too: the then-Centurions beat KR 22-18 in the 2006 Northern Rail Cup final, and Leigh later beat KR in the Challenge Cup at Wembley through Lachlan Lam’s Golden Point drop goal after Josh Charnley’s late try helped secure their first Super League win back at Craven Park.
