Leigh Leopards Boss Adrian Lam Backs New Signing Aaron Pene for ‘Huge Future’ in Super League
Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has tipped the club’s recent signing Aaron Pene to have a “really big future” both with the Leopards and in the wider Super League competition. Powerful prop Pene joined Leigh last month on a two-and-a-half-year deal after securing his release from NRL giants Melbourne Storm.
Just a week after arriving in England, Pene made his Leigh debut in their defeat against Leeds at AMT Headingley on June 21, leaving Lam impressed with his initial performance prior to the international break.
“Obviously we’ve been tracking him for a long time now, the last 18 months,” Lam said in his press conference ahead of Friday’s trip to his former club Wigan. “He’s a player who I think is going to have a really big future here at Leigh. He’ll set Super League alight once he feels like he belongs here and earns the trust from the players around him. I think he’ll be a real player to watch in Super League for the rest of this year and every year moving forwards. I was really pleased for him.”
Lam also provided an update on recent Leigh recruit Darnell McIntosh, who arrived from Hull FC back in May as part of a swap deal that saw Tom Briscoe head the other way. Despite having made two appearances for the Leopards so far and being named as an 18th man on four occasions, the winger or fullback has found game time hard to come by with Lam praising the performances of the players currently in the 17 or starting 13.
“Players are on notice about making sure that they perform, I’m looking forward to giving him a go at the next opportunity and that may be next week – that may not be for the rest of this year,” Lam said. “I’m sure it is (frustrating) every week (for him) but we brought him here because we see a future with him here in one of our positions in our 13 or 17.”
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