{"id":498338,"date":"2026-03-27T13:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/498338\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:32:17","slug":"leigh-leopards-man-makes-silverware-declaration-as-future-at-club-discussed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/498338\/","title":{"rendered":"Leigh Leopards man makes silverware declaration as future at club discussed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Leigh Leopards forward Joe Ofahengaue has set out strong intentions for the club\u2019s 2026 season whilst also fielding questions on his own future.<\/p>\n

Ofahengaue, 30, signed with the Leopards in April of 2025<\/a>, penning a deal that keeps him at the club until the end of the 2028 season.<\/p>\n

The former State of Origin man will turn 33 by the end of his Leigh<\/a> contract and when asked about his future, Ofahengaue admitted that it could be a case of what his body can offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of the \u2018older\u2019 guys now. I\u2019m turning 31 this year so it\u2019s whatever the body can offer,\u201d he told Sky Sports\u2019\u00a0The Bench<\/a>\u00a0podcast when asked about the prospect of an NRL return.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m expecting myself to have a big year after this injury so I\u2019m willing to go all out to try and win something this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silverware was a clear goal as he then added:\u00a0\u201cIf it doesn\u2019t happen then I\u2019m going to do that again next year, I just don\u2019t know how the body is going to cope because I\u2019m starting to get these old man injuries with calf muscles and last year I had a hammy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll just leave it up to time and see what happens. I\u2019ve got a lot of unfinished business over here and I just want to win before I leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Timing is right\u2019 for Leigh Leopards<\/p>\n

Whilst Leigh Leopards won the Challenge Cup in 2023, many of that group have now moved on and Ofahengaue feels like it\u2019s the perfect time for the club to add to their trophy cabinet.<\/p>\n

\u201cCup and Grand Final, that\u2019s the perfect season,\u201d he responded bluntly when asked what the goals for 2026 were.<\/p>\n

Explaining why, he said: \u201cI just feel like the timing is right for myself and this team. Lammy has brought this group of boys together the last couple of years and I feel like we\u2019re at the peak of our career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ofahengaue also pointed to some of the club\u2019s elder statesman who are off-contract as a motivation for winning, stating:\u00a0\u201cGareth O\u2019Brien, Jack Hughes, Isaac Liu, Josh Charnley are 34. I want to send those guys out. I\u2019m not even going to sugarcoat it, it would just feel good to deliver for those guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of chip on my shoulder I\u2019ve got to have this year, to send these guys out, who could potentially be on their last contract, the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prop forward, who is around two weeks away from an injury return, also joked when asked about the future of head coach Adrian Lam.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s signed me for three years so I hope he is,\u201d Ofahengaue responded when asked if he thinks Lam will be at the club in 2027.<\/p>\n

Luke Robinson sacked, Hull KR struggling and why it could actually be Warrington Wolves\u2019 year? \u2013 click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leigh Leopards forward Joe Ofahengaue has set out strong intentions for the club\u2019s 2026 season whilst also fielding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-498338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}