Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam described his side’s start to the second half as ‘diabolical’ in their 26-16 play-off loss to Wakefield Trinity.

Trailing 12-6 at half-time courtesy of a Davey Armstrong try on the hooter, Leigh knew that they had to massively improve after a very poor first 40 minutes, however, things didn’t go to plan as Isaiah Vagana crashed over minutes into the second half.

Caius Faatili would soon cross over before Emre Guler’s red card gave Leigh some hope, although their execution remained lacking as they crashed out of the play-offs.

Interestingly, Lam would defend Emre Guler when speaking post-match on Sky Sports, arguing that it was an unlucky red card, which may be something Wakefield could use in the prop’s defence if he is charged by the disciplinary panel as expected.

On the red card, Lam said: “They had one player sent off tonight, which was sad. The red card, I don’t think that’s deserved, and hopefully they get around that.”

As for his side’s showing, Lam couldn’t hide his frustration at the performance, stating: “Just not ideal, it was quite frustrating to watch at times. Too many mistakes and everything that we tried not to do, so that’s what happens.”

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Leigh Leopards dominated in the middle, admits Lam

He highlighted the start of both halves as an issue, admitting that Wakefield rolled his side down the middle all night long.

“When you come to these grounds, you need to start well, and they’ve been great all season, Wakefield, and we knew that they would play like that but there was a couple of soft tries,” he said.

“I think that Smoothy try in the first 10 minutes there was exactly what we didn’t need, and just the softness with that, and then a couple of other soft areas through the middle where they rolled us was the story of the night, really.

“We still rallied well, we were lucky enough to score right on half-time, but it could have been more points than what it was, it should have been, but to get back to 12-6, I thought there was some hope there.”

As for the second-half, he said: “Then that first five, seven minutes in the second half was just diabolical, and everything that we’ve not done this year. For some reason, it’s all come out tonight, and that happens. It’s not ideal but it made it really difficult for us.

“It’s just down to execution, and individuals, and big moments. I mean we played them in this game last year on our home ground and won quite convincingly, and it was a completely different story tonight.”

Paying tribute to the victors, Lam added: “Credit to Wakefield, I think, as I mentioned, they’ve been one of the best sides all season and they’re a good chance next week whoever they play, but for me, it was a frustrating night tonight. We didn’t really hit our straps.”

Wakefield Trinity are into a Super League semi-final for the first time ever 🙌✅ pic.twitter.com/azi5Uh73Ir

— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) September 18, 2026