Adrian Lam’s next job after Leigh Leopards already lined up?

VaselineMay 19, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Adrian Lam’s next job after Leigh Leopards already lined up?

It was confirmed earlier this week that Leigh Leopards have secured head coach Adrian Lam on a new deal that would keep the Papua New Guinean at the club until the end of the 2027 season, but is there any significance around that date?

There have been a number of head coach contract extensions so far this season, the two biggest ahead of Adrian Lam being Matt Peet and Willie Peters.

Lam’s former club Wigan have tied Peet and members of his coaching staff Tommy Leuluai and Sean O’Loughlin to seven-year deals, keeping the trio at the club until at least the end of the 2030 season. As for Willie Peters , he committed to Hull KR until the end of the 2028 season.

So while it’s brilliant news for Leigh Leopards fans that Adrian Lam has penned a new three-year deal, there could be questions about why he’s gone. After all, Lam got the club back into Super League, into the play-offs for the first time and to victory at Wembley.

The answer may lie in Lam’s home country of Papua New Guinea, the only nation in the world to have rugby league as its national sport.

Could Adrian Lam become head coach of PNG’s first NRL team?

There have been strong plans for Papua New Guinea to have an NRL team and now it looks like those plans will be given the green light after a resolution between the federal government and Australian Rugby League commissioner Peter V’landys.

That’s what The Daily Telegraph reports anyway with a PNG-based team set to become one of two new expansion clubs in the NRL, following the Dolphins, who had their inaugural season in 2023.

The Telegraph reported that the timetable for when the new team will come in looks set to be the 2028 season, the first of which Adrian Lam is out of contract at Leigh Leopards. Could Lam’s NRL return see him lead his nation?

Wayne Bennett has already appeared to have turned down the job, with the former England head coach saying he cannot commit “at the moment” and that could make way for someone like Adrian Lam.

One of the swirling rumors of late that has cast doubt on the 53-year-old’s future has been that he will return to the NRL and take over the vacant South Sydney Rabbitohs job, something legendary commentator Andrew Voss has been a major supporter of.

The Telegraph reported that in terms of players, the PNG team will “draw up a shortlist and focus on getting as many players with PNG heritage as possible” before checking Lachlan Lam as a target. Perhaps a PNG heritage trainer would also be desirable?

How likely is Lam to leave after 2027?

It’s clear Lam has a bit of work to do, having so far only served as an assistant during his NRL career before taking over the Wigan job in 2019.

Would an opportunity to manage a PNG side be the perfect one for him to start his NRL coaching career? Another three years at Leigh and then back, at which point he could potentially have the pick of any Papua New Guinea internationals in the Super League as well.

Of course, Lam could extend to Leigh, but when he confirmed his new deal he made it clear that he had signed for a five-year deal, which would indicate that 2027 will be the end of his journey in leopard print.

He said: “I promised you a five-year plan and this extension shows that I am as committed to this club now as I was in the first Championship game.”

What comes beyond the end of the fifth year at Leigh is now a very interesting point, given the green light given to a PNG side.

VaselineMay 19, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Could Adrian Lam become head coach of PNG’s first NRL team?

How likely is Lam to leave after 2027?

Vaseline

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