For their home game against the Catalan Dragons on Friday night, the Leigh Leopards will start 21 players, including captain John Asiata. However, they will probably be without powerhouse Robbie Mulhern once more.
Asiata, a loose forward who was injured and missed the latter part of the previous season, tore his calf during the Leopards’ March 1 Round 3 loss at St Helens.
After eight weeks, there’s a chance the captain—one of the important players whose absence this season has caused Leigh to struggle for results—may return.
Meanwhile, prop Mulhern has already missed games this season due to a calf injury—the same problem that has dogged many Leopards players since 2024.
He played again last week when they lost to Warrington Wolves, his old team. However, he is currently dealing with another issue, so he is very unlikely to play when Catalans visit Leigh Sports Village in Round 9.
John Asiata is named in 21; this gives the Leigh Leopards a significant injury boost.
At his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, the Leigh chief gave an update on Asiata, saying, “In terms of injuries, we have a couple of boys who are very, very close in John Asiata and Edwin Ipape (who will return) over the next couple of weeks.”
“We’re quite excited about that because it’s been fairly well documented that those players are expected back next week or the week after. Although it seems like they have been gone for a very long time, they have returned.
It’s getting close because those boys are currently running on the pitch with us and getting their rehabilitation figured out.
“John Asiata might have a slim chance to play this week, in my opinion. He is currently training on the pitch, and things are going fairly well, but we’ll wait until captain’s run to make that announcement.
It’s enormous for us. In addition to being the club captain and a group leader, he is a major part of our attack because of the way I play.
“We have missed him; his leadership elevates us to a new level and his mere presence around the group lifts the intensity.”
Robbie Mulhern, a vital Leopards forward, is doubtful for the Catalan Dragons match.
Mulhern, who played for England against Tonga in the autumn test series last year, was not present for Leigh’s defeats earlier this month by Hull KR, who eliminated them from the Challenge Cup, and Wigan Warriors.
But following his comeback last week at Warrington, where Lam’s team lost 16–14 despite dominating for significant stretches of the match, it now seems likely he will miss more time due to a related problem.
The manager went on, saying that the forward was the only significantly new possible absence. “There is some doubt over (Robbie) Mulhern, so we’ll have to wait and see on that one,” Lam said.
He’s currently experiencing some tightness and soreness in his other calf, which we will keep an eye on throughout the week.
He has a 50/50 chance of playing; it will depend on his decision to make another captain’s run. The risky part of this one is that it requires a six-day turnaround into Catalans.
“If we’re going to look at it that way, it’s probably on the side of him not playing right now because it’s probably on the risky end.”
