Leigh Leopards will be without ten players for Friday’s clash against Catalans Dragons, with fresh injuries suffered by Edwin Ipape and Umyla Hanley.
Both men missed out in round three but Adrian Lam has confirmed that hooker Ipape has undergone a knee clean-out, whilst it’s been discovered that Hanley, who is yet to play in Super League this year, has fractured his scapula.
As such, both will be out for the next four weeks with their latest setbacks ensuring that the casualty list at the club has grown to ten.
Lam had confirmed positive news for Bailey Hodgson in that the full-back will miss only eight weeks with a PCL tear as opposed to the feared ACL, which would have been season-ending. Last Thursday night’s other major injury concern was Joe Ofahengaue, who Lam confirmed to have suffered a grade two calf tear meaning he will miss the next five weeks.
Hull KR’s nightmare, Leeds Rhinos’ dominance and possible Hull FC signings – Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show
Leigh Leopards injury rundown
Speaking to the media ahead of Friday night’s game at home to Catalans, Lam opened up by confirming that the Leopards were without ten players, all of whom are listed at the foot of the article.
“I think out of the squad there’s 10 out this week, but that’s what it is and we’ve got to get on with it,” Lam explained.
After confirming the Thursday night injury news of Hodgson (knee), Ofahengaue (calf) and Davis (HIA), Lam began an update on the others who are out, starting with David Armstrong and Umyla Hanley.
He revealed: “Davey Armstrong (ACL) is four weeks away with that one. We’ve also got Umyla (Hanley) around four weeks still. We’ve had extra scans on him early this week and worked out that there is a fracture in his scapula so it’s a lot longer than what we anticipate.”
Explaining how and why Hanley’s injury was discovered, Lam admitted: “Originally we just thought it was the AC joint and a bit of bruising around that. But because it wasn’t improving, he’s had further scans and off the back of that they’ve identified it’s a really difficult one too because it’s only a small fracture.
“It’s hard to see with other issues that he’s had there previously. He was sort of covered up, but we’ve got a hold of that now. So it gives us some clarity on what is exactly wrong with it now so we can move forward.”
On Edwin Ipape, who missed the defeat against Wigan, Lam said: “Edwin (Ipape) is having a clean out of his knee today. There was some loose fragment in there that’s been giving him some pain. So we’ll get a clean out with that. So that’s potentially around that four week mark as well.”
Aaron Pene is also set to miss another four weeks due to his calf tear, however, Lam claimed that most of the casualty list will return in or around round seven, bar Bailey Hodgson.
As for fringe players, he also confirmed: “AJ Towse has got a calf as well and Nathan Wilde‘s got a groin strain, both again out for a bit of time too. The squad’s still going to be a strong squad. We’re coming back home and we’re looking for a response from last week’s performance.”
Louis Brogan is the tenth and final player with Adrian Lam confirming in late 2025 that the forward had suffered a long-term knee injury.
Leigh Leopards full injury list and recovery timelines
Bailey Hodgson – PCL tear – Eight weeks+
Joe Ofahengaue – Calf tear – Five weeks
David Armstrong – ACL – Four weeks
Umyla Hanley – Shoulder – Four weeks
Edwin Ipape – Knee – Four weeks
Aaron Pene – Calf tear – Four weeks
Matty Davis – HIA – One week
AJ Towse – Calf – Unknown
Nathan Wilde – Groin – Unknown
Louis Brogan – Knee – Unknown
