Leigh Leopards: Super League club changes name and signs 10 players

Ex-Leeds Rhinos back Zak Hardaker is one of ten signings for the newly branded Leigh Leopards

Super League newcomers Leigh have signed 10 new players and rebranded themselves as Leigh Leopards.

The club has changed its name from Leigh Centurions and will now wear a white and black home kit rather than their traditional white and red.

The signings are led by Leeds Rhinos duo Zak Hardaker and Tom Briscoe.

They will be joined by Huddersfield's Ricky Leutele, Castleford's Gareth O'Brien, Newcastle Thunder prop Nathan Wilde and five from Warrington Wolves.

The Warrington contingent moving to the Leigh Sports Village are props Robbie Mulhern and Jacob Gannon and second-row forwards Oliver Holmes, Jack Hughes and Matt Davis.

All of the additions have signed two-year contracts with the promoted side except for Wilde, who has agreed a one-year deal.

Hardaker, 31, had only joined Leeds in April on a deal until the end of the 2022 season after being released by Wigan Warriors. He made 17 appearances in his second spell at Headingley with his final game being the defeat in the Grand Final by St Helens.

Leigh will be the fourth Super League club for the full-back, having also played for Castleford in 2017.

England winger Briscoe, 32, who also played in the Grand Final at Old Trafford, was at Leeds for nine seasons but his contract with the Rhinos was up and he was not offered a new one.

Samoa centre Leutele, 32, moves to Leigh Sports Village after two seasons at Huddersfield and 30-year-old O'Brien does likewise after two years at the Mend-a-Hose Jungle.

Leigh were promoted back to Super League after beating Batley Bulldogs 44-12 in the Championship Grand Final earlier this month.

"I'm excited we're bringing in some real quality, and senior players who can help develop the group and move forward in Super League," head coach Adrian Lam told BBC Radio Manchester.

"With the Leopard rebranding, it has characteristics as an animal that we want to have as a team."

'We're finished with Championship rugby'

The club's owner Derek Beaumont insists that the rebranding is part of an overall plan to make Leigh an established Super League club.

Their previous three seasons in the top division all ended in relegation, most recently in 2021, and they want to break that cycle. Beaumont also believes the new name fits in with the proposals that sports management giants IMG have for rugby league.

"The name Centurions stood the test of time but it was a good time to park it up when you've had a record-breaking season and scored 100 points as Centurions for the first time ever," Beaumont said.

"It felt apt on the back of what IMG is doing.

"We've made a change in who we are, what we're going to be next year and how we recruit and we're finished with Championship rugby.

"And the squad we've just announced proves most likely that is going to be the case."