{"id":618996,"date":"2026-06-03T14:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/618996\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T14:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:14:11","slug":"leigh-leopards-handed-double-retention-boost-as-png-chiefs-edwin-ipape-stance-aired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/618996\/","title":{"rendered":"Leigh Leopards handed double retention boost as PNG Chiefs&#8217; Edwin Ipape stance aired"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OH9_3428.jpg\" class=\"attachment- size- wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>\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<p>Incoming NRL club PNG Chiefs will not sign Leigh Leopards\u2019 star player Edwin Ipape, according to the NRL club\u2019s General Manager Michael Chammas.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seriousaboutrl.com\/rugby-league-news-st-helens-confirm-impending-matty-lees-exit-as-nrl-switch-revealed-115638\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chiefs have made four signings<\/a> and appointed Hull KR boss Willie Peters as their head coach ahead of their 2028 start in the NRL, and it\u2019s understandable that plenty of Papua New Guinean internationals have been linked with a move.<\/p>\n<p>Among the very best PNG internationals in Super League are Leigh Leopards duo Edwin Ipape and Lachlan Lam, with the spine pair both essential for the Leopards and the Kumuls\u2019 national team.<\/p>\n<p>Both would be obvious candidates to sign for the Chiefs but general manager Michael Chammas has told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrl.com\/news\/2026\/06\/02\/chiefs-recruits-set-to-join-hunters-if-london-miss-super-league-spot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NRL.com<\/a> that such deals are unlikely, particularly for Ipape given the length of his contract.<\/p>\n<p>The hooker signed a new deal last year that tied him to the Leopards until the end of the 2031 season, and that\u2019s something Chammas referenced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone keeps asking us about Edwin Ipape,\u201d Chammas admitted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality is that Edwin Ipape signed a six-year deal to stay at Leigh and as far as has been reported, there is no NRL get-out clause for him, so we\u2019ve got to respect his position there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leigh Leopards players off the table for PNG Chiefs for now<\/p>\n<p>That is a massive boost for the Leopards who will lose a number of key players at the end of the season, with Robbie Mulhern and Owen Trout among those, as well as the expected exit of Bailey Hodgson.<\/p>\n<p>One man who is contracted for 2027 but not beyond, therefore could become an available option for the Chiefs, is half-back Lachlan Lam, with Chammas also addressing the playmaker as a possible recruit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLachlan Lam is contracted for another year at Leigh as well,\u201d Chammas confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust like the NRL, we know the rules we\u2019re playing by and if things pop up, we\u2019ll deal with them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut at the moment there are some rules around certain players that limit what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those rules that Chammas refers to are that players can only be spoken to when in the final year of their contract, with November 1st the deadline for speaking to off-contract players.<\/p>\n<p>Wigan Warriors win Challenge Cup, John Kear remembered and Sam Walters\u2019 monster ban \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/EWaUkv0zjPA?si=gS1x_TgcOK6Z5wWP\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to listen to the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768085712_213_srl-logo.png\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Incoming NRL club PNG Chiefs will not sign Leigh Leopards\u2019 star player Edwin Ipape, according to the NRL&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-618996","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\/618996","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=618996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}