Leigh Leopards’ Josh Charnley injury update after Wigan Warriors defeat

Leigh Leopards winger Josh Charnley will undergo scans on his rib injury at the weekend, his manager Adrian Lam has confirmed.

Charnley started in Leigh’s 24-6 defeat of his former club Wigan at the Brick Community Stadium on Friday night but left the field in the closing stages of the first half after picking up a knock to the ribs in a transfer from backfield.

The 33-year-old was unable to return to the grid, with Lam stating that his prolific winger will undergo X-rays at the weekend as the club look to establish the extent of the injury.

“He’s got ribs, I think it might be rib cartilage,” Lam said Loves Rugby League. “We’ll get that X-ray over the weekend and see what the issues are on Monday.”

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“Battle of the district” was the very definition of its marketing term Friday night. It was a bruising encounter with both sides being physical defensively and putting on an entertaining show for the 16,053 inside the stadium.

Speaking in the post-match press conference, Lam says his side will be better off from the performance they produced at Wigan, who currently hold all four available trophies.

“I thought the game was an outstanding game of rugby tonight because physically I think both teams showed up to play,” Lam said.

“It was exactly what we needed as a group and it’s the first time we’ve played together with that forward group since the start of the year, funnily enough, so I wish it could have been sooner but it’s not. I’m really proud of our effort there, I thought we were really physical, defensively we were outstanding apart from a few little issues.

“I think we counted six times when we probably should have scored if we had taken another option. It’s just a simple go it alone and get the ball down and score.

“We made five or six clean breaks so there was a lot of effort there and I’m proud of them in that way, but I’m disappointed we conceded a penalty when we were in the game and then a simple try for (Liam) Marshall in the corner. We have to be better than that.”

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But for Lam, whose side sit seven points off the play-off places after an injury-hit first half of the campaign, the positives outweighed the negatives in the defeat at Wigan.

“I thought we were the better team to be honest,” Lam said. “I thought we created a lot of opportunities.

“I thought we attacked very well. I thought we defended really well for the most part, except for the defense of (Bevan) French and (Jake) Wardle, I think they were the two players that changed the game tonight.”

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