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These two great rugby league clubs may both be preparing for the Super League playoffs in a fortnight’s time but on the evidence of what we have seen both here and in recent weeks, you suspect only one has a credible chance of walking out at Old Trafford in a month’s time.
And incredibly, it is not the side who were world champions just two years ago and won four consecutive league titles at the turn of the decade. For all of the brilliance St Helens showed in that run of unprecedented domination, this is now a very different side: underlined by the fact that for the first time in the summer era, they will finish outside the top four in consecutive seasons.
But this night belonged to a side who are hoping of ending a much longer wait to become champions of England. Not since 1982 were Leigh last the dominant force in rugby league, and their only other title came all the way back in 1906. This is a town that has lived in the shadows of the sport’s big names, not least their local rivals from across the borough, Wigan Warriors.
However, the Leopards are undoubtedly a club on the rise. This victory secured their highest-ever finish in Super League, no matter what happens next weekend. They will be at home in the opening round of the playoffs too after sauntering past the Saints with relatively little fuss to illustrate just how far they have come under Adrian Lam.
With his son, Lachlan, the architect of everything they do well, Leigh will now finish as high as third should they avoid defeat to Huddersfield in the final round. Written off this year, they have proven their critics wrong. “It was a tough game, one that we needed,” Lam said. “But at times we were outstanding.”
In truth though, this was not really so much of an acid test for Leigh’s title credentials. They were coming up against a St Helens side who are littered with problems: chief among them the fact that, with the playoffs just a fortnight away, they still do not know what their best side looks like in attack.
For the fifth consecutive game, Paul Wellens rotated the spine of his team, this time opting to put the England fullback, Jack Welsby, at half-back having used him at loose-forward last week. Once again, it didn’t work. They have now lost to the top three in consecutive weeks and will likely travel to Leeds in the opening round of the playoffs. They do so as underdogs.
“Quite clearly if you look at the last three results we’re not where we need to be,” Wellens lamented. “The reality here is that we’ve conceded 28 points and that’s not good enough.” Twelve of those came before half-time, with tries for Andy Badrock and Keanan Brand – both created by Lam, who passed 40 assists for the season in the process – putting the Leopards in control.
In response, the Saints offered nothing. But when Leigh’s talismanic hooker, Edwin Ipape, was sin-binned as half-time approached, it gave the visitors a glimmer of hope. They duly took it too, scoring twice in the ten minutes when Ipape was off the field to bring it back to 12-10 shortly after half-time, with tries from Kyle Feldt and Harry Robertson bringing the game alive again.
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But Ipape’s return settled Leigh down and simultaneously stunted the Saints’ momentum. They almost seemed to return to type when the numerical advantage disappeared, and the hosts made them pay. Jack Hughes scored after a fine offload from Umyla Hanley to open up a two-score lead before Ipape atoned for his earlier error with a thunderous finish.
By the time Owen Trout grounded a Lam kick in the final minutes, the game was already up for Saints, and the celebrations had already started in the terraces here among the home supporters. For the first time in more than a generation, this small Lancashire town has reason to believe it can go all the way once again.
But for one of Super League’s most fearsome and dominant sides, just competing in the playoffs now seems to represent something of a positive outcome after another humiliating evening.
