Leigh Leopards took their first steps towards rebuilding their squad for the 2025 Super League season yesterday, by announcing the capture of Aaron Pene on a two and a half year deal. Pene joins the club from Melbourne Storm and will go straight into the Leigh squad for this weekend’s game away at Catalans Dragons. Leigh face a major overhaul this summer with a number of key players set to leave the club. John Asiata was the first departure to be announced, joining Hull FC for 2025. He will reportedly be joined by Zak Hardaker and Oliver Holmes, whose contracts expire at the end of the season.
Tom Amone and Kai O’Donnell will both leave the club to return to the NRL, joining the Canterbury Bulldogs and the North Queensland Cowboys, respectively. Marquee players, Lachlan Lam and Matt Moylan, have both also been linked with moves away from Leigh, however, no concrete interest has materialised as yet.
The plus side of this squad turnover is that there is plenty of scope for incoming transfers and Leigh are active in the market. Now, an NRL coach has spoken out on the future of a player who has been linked with a move to Leigh in recent weeks.
One player linked with a move to Leigh in recent weeks is experienced NRL forward, Jack de Belin. De Belin has had a long and successful career with St George Illawarra, representing New South Wales at State of Origin and Papua New Guinea internationally.
De Belin’s contract with the Dragons is set to expire at the end of the season and, as yet, he has not agreed a new deal to extend his stay with the club. The South Sydney Rabbitohs are reportedly also interested in a move to de Belin, who is also thought to be on Leigh’s radar.
Now, Nine Wide World of Sports reports that de Belin could still agree a deal to remain with the Dragons, following an interview conducted by St George coach, Shane Flanagan. According to Flanagan, the Dragons remain in negotiations with de Belin and they are keen to resolve his future. The report states:
“We’re in negotiations with Jack and we want to keep him at the club,” Flanagan said
The ball is in his court at the moment – but I would like to think that he does stay.
“We’ve put an offer towards Jack and I’d like to think in the next week or two, we will get something resolved.”
