Leigh perhaps will be making him one of their marquee players which will have made it really difficult for us - and Hardaker himself to be fair.
Do you stay at a top (we think) team in a decent club or go to somewhere like Leigh knowing it's a bit unstable and unpredictable and won't offer him the same chances of winning things, but the money is so much better.

It was nice for Zak to come back to Leeds and mend some bridges in the process, and yes I am disappointed that we've not been able to retain him, especially after the Walker announcement.

At the same time he's no spring chicken, and if we're able to bring in someone different who complements the team in the right way that's fine with me. Hardaker was at his best in the years immediately before his big ban in 2017; while he's still a very good player it is not worth getting upset about.

He'll be a free agent when Leigh get relegated at the end of next season so you never know, there may be a chance for another swansong yet

Confirmed as a Leigh LEOPARDS signing.

If you want a good laugh check out twitter and the reaction to Leighs new branding, which is so amateurish im sure its a wind up

And Leigh announce they’ve retained MacDonald as well

And signed Leutele.

Jesus Christ. What the hell is that? It's like their entire strategy is aimed at reinforcing the impression of being a tinpot club.

Where have they announced this bit?

it was on love rugby

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/le ... y-leutele/

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/le ... y-leutele/

If we don’t have a quality centre lined up after losing Hardaker and Sutcliffe, particularly taking into account question marks over Newman’s ability to last a season with out any long layoffs, I’d go as far as to say our recruitment and cap management is disastrous.

I think they announced they had extended Macdonald in May for 2023. However given Leutele has been signed on big money, I reckon it’s quite possible he will be leaving Leigh.

That Leigh shirt is really special. I can’t get the image of Gareth Cheeseman out of my head “I’m a leopard, rarrr”

Hey ghosty, you seem to be showing too much jealousy towards Leigh atm. Sit back and relax.

Leigh will be strong next year whether you like it or not.And BTW - I will never change my signature below or my Avatar for this stupid Leopards crap.

Well you can't say Leigh aren't having a real crack at staying up, and good luck to them. Not sure about the rebrand. Ignoring the design issues, I quite like the Centurions. Leopards will probably grow on me though.

Good luck to them. Might make a few teams already in SL pull their finger out. I can see Wakey being a tad concerned. We might be having to keep one eye on them too!

Hardakers interview on leeds live is interesting.

He wanted two years but Rohan Smith only wanted to offer him one saying he would have to earn a second year.

Also says he wanted more money.

I think smith was correct to offer one not two, hardaker needs to realise with his past he comes with baggage.

you could have offered him 30 years as long as the contract has behaviour clauses in it, as most have.

The sequence of events re Hardaker in Leeds Live is interesting. To sum up, Leeds only ever offered him a one-year deal and Leigh offered a 2-year deal that was 25% higher than Leeds' final offer. Hardaker sounds a bit upset about the way Leeds went about things, but that seems to be mainly because they simply didn't offer him as much as he wanted.

In another article they mention MacDonald. They suggest that if Leeds don't sign MacDonald, Martin might move Martin to centre. Lets hope that's definitely only in emergencies....

Reading that article makes me think we are finally starting to offer sensible contracts.

Hardaker comes across a tad arrogant imo

I think the 2-year issue is probably less about Hardaker specifically and more about maximising flexibility for 2024. Although we have signed others (including Olpherts) on 2-year deals, none of them would be on anything like Hardaker's wages.

This year's signings seem to be mainly about depth with none of them certain stars. For 2024 we'll have Tetevano and Prior leaving and likely one of the halfbacks as well. Given our cap situation some of these guys must be on a huge wedge. 2024 looks like the time we'll go big again, hopefully without a messed up cap blocking signings.

Yes I agree with that, Smith needed flexibility end of next season.

Jealous of Leigh?

Good one, your clubs owners current rebrand is making you the laughing stock of RL, not much to be jealous of, id be embarrassed if i were you.

Jealous?



Most of the time it's easy to ignore Leigh and their cringeworthy owner. But every time they make fools of themselves I do think of 1971 and the biggest bit of Rugby League cheating in history and think they had it coming.

Kit and rebrand aside, Leigh are not going to be making up the numbers next year. Maybe their best side since the days of Drummond, Donlan and Woods.

Hardaker showing his class bad mouthing the club in the press. Once a always a .
Club gave him a lifeline last season and yes the new deal they offered was not what he wanted, but just say I declined the offer for a better one.