Leigh Leopards Coach Adrian Lam Sees Big Future for New Signing Aaron Pene in Super League
Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has high hopes for the club’s latest recruit, Aaron Pene, tipping the powerful prop to have a “really big future” both at the Leopards and in the Super League competition.
Pene, who secured a release from NRL giants Melbourne Storm, joined Leigh last month on a two-and-a-half-year deal. Just a week after arriving in England, the 27-year-old made his Leopards debut in their defeat against Leeds at AMT Headingley on June 21, leaving Lam impressed with his initial outing 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.”
Lam believes Pene will be “a real player to watch in Super League for the rest of this year and every year moving forwards,” adding that he was “really pleased” with the player’s debut performance.
In the same press conference, the Leigh coach also provided an update on recent recruit Darnell McIntosh, who joined the Leopards from Hull FC in May as part of a swap deal. While the winger or fullback has made two appearances for Lam’s side and been an 18th man on four occasions, the coach explained that the current starting 13 have been performing well, making it difficult to immediately integrate McIntosh into the lineup.
“Darnell is obviously a player that is our future over the next couple of years,” Lam said. “He’s been sitting behind the outside-backs (waiting) to get an opportunity and has been 18th man nearly every week. I’m sure he’s a bit frustrated that he’s not playing, but the philosophy for me as a coach is to give the players an opportunity to play well every week and to do what I’ve asked.”
Lam assured that McIntosh, who has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Leopards, will get his chance, with the coach looking forward to giving him a go at the next opportunity, whether that be this year or in the future.
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