Zak Hardaker will strain every sinew to win the Betfred Challenge Cup this weekend for Adrian Lam after thriving under the care and attention of the Leigh head coach.
The Leopards defied pre-season predictions that they would struggle on their Super League comeback and, with just half a dozen matches of the regular campaign left, Lam’s side are currently joint second.
Leigh could cap a remarkable return to the big time by beating Hull KR at Wembley on Saturday and Hardaker has attributed the club being the breakout story of the year to former Wigan boss Lam.
Hardaker, who worked under the Papua New Guinean at the Warriors, has had a string of disciplinary issues throughout his career but believes he has matured under Lam at Leigh.
“I’ve just settled,” he told the PA news agency. “When I signed at Leigh, the big factor was Lammy wanting me, wanting to settle me down and get the old head switched on.
“I think he knows me better than me, to be fair. He just makes sure that I’m happy, not that I want that much. He makes sure everyone’s home life is pretty good and wants that to be in order first.
“As a coach, if everyone’s happy outside of rugby then the on-the-field stuff takes care of itself. He makes sure I’m alright and it’s lovely that he’s so caring and looks out for me like that.
“I try to repay him by training hard and playing well for him on the pitch. If I can do that on Saturday and get him a win, it would be pretty special.”
Leigh won 28 of their 29 fixtures in last year’s Championship, including brushing aside Batley in the Million Pound Game, but their three past promotions to the top table ended with immediate relegation.
They bolstered their ranks by bringing in players with proven Super League pedigree, with Hardaker joined by former Leeds team-mate Tom Briscoe and experienced forwards Oliver Holmes and Jack Hughes.
“We knew we had a chance to do something,” Hardaker said. “Bringing in many people from different clubs and trying to get them to gel so quickly might have been the biggest issue but everyone’s so close.
“It’s weird in a way because friendships and bonds sometimes take a couple of years and you get that bond over a long period of time, but we’ve got it in a short period of time.
“We enjoy coming to training, we all have a laugh and a joke but when it’s time to get serious, we train hard. Every game’s been great. Even when we’ve lost, we’ve had big learning curves.”
Hardaker bagged a try as Leigh toppled St Helens – the winners of the past four Grand Finals who triumphed in the World Club Challenge earlier this year – last month to reach the Wembley showpiece.
Leigh’s last visit to the famous stadium was 52 years ago while this latest trip will just be their second overall, so the magnitude of the occasion is not lost on Hardaker.
He said: “We’ve seen pictures from then – what they did and the parade they had and all the fans in the street. It gives you that buzz of what it means and we’re going to try our hardest to recreate that.”
Hardaker has only had to wait eight years for another crack at cup-final glory. Back then, his Leeds side demolished Hull KR 50-0 and he ended the season as the Super League’s Man of Steel.
But in that same year, he was arrested for assault while in 2018 he was sacked by Castleford for failing a drugs test for cocaine before serving a driving ban shortly after being signed by Wigan.
Last year, he was released by the Warriors just days after coach Matt Peet said Hardaker had “dipped below the standards” expected of a Wigan player, but the 31-year-old has redeemed himself at Leigh.
“Winning the cup this weekend would mean everything,” he added. “It would definitely be up there with one of the best achievements I’ve got so far.”
Smith not pinning blame on Ford for England loss
Marcus Smith does not blame England's narrow defeat to New Zealand on Saturday on George Ford, despite his late missed kicks.
Ford replaced Smith, who had scored 17 points and set up England's only try in their 24-22 loss, hitting a potential match-winning penalty against the post before narrowly missing a drop goal.
England had held an eight-point advantage when Smith left the field, but Mark Tele'a's 76th-minute try before Damian McKenzie added five late points proved enough to get the All Blacks over the line.
The hosts' autumn series got off to a losing start as Ford struggled to find his clinical edge in the dying moments, but Smith does not lay any blame at his team-mate's feet.
"Sometimes that's the life of a kicker, we've all experienced that. It's part and parcel of the job," said Smith.
"I've learned so much off George. He's an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.
"It's nothing to do with him why we didn't win the game. It's a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.
"We practise [drop-goals] as kickers every single day, but sometimes it doesn't go for you. We're all human and people miss."
Saturday marked a third consecutive narrow loss to New Zealand for England, with their last win an emphatic victory over Japan in June.
Despite that run, Smith remains confident that England can take lessons from these defeats to set themselves up for success in the future.
"International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we're experiencing now are very painful, but we'll be better for them," Smith added.
"Keep the faith. We've fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we'll learn from it 100%.
"These experiences will tighten us as a group, and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it."
England 'banging on the door' of rugby's elite, says proud Borthwick
Steve Borthwick reckons England are "banging on the door" of the elite nations after their close loss to New Zealand.
England went down 24-22 to the All Blacks in Saturday's Test match at Twickenham.
Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.
England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.
But coach Borthwick, who was immensely proud of his team, feels England showed they are capable of mixing it with the best teams in the world, despite losing four of their last five Tests.
"It is a mixture of immense pride at the performance against a very tough New Zealand team and one of incredible disappointment," Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"They are the emotions we balance and will work through over the next few days.
"When we started two years ago we wanted to get England right to the top of world rugby again. You can see the team banging on the door."
With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.
Marcus Smith's penalties kept England in contention, though, and he set up the hosts' only try when he intercepted a loose pass and teed up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Yet England ultimately failed to hold on to an eight-point advantage, with Ford having to be consoled by his team-mates after the match.
Next up for England are Australia, with fixtures against South Africa and Japan also in store.
"We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.
"Eight points is a lot in Test match rugby but we probably went chasing the game a bit and gave away too many penalties. We have to be smarter in that respect."
England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.
"That was always our plan before Joe's comments but we did it in a respectful way," said George. "I saw a smile on Scott Barrett’s face, I was smiling, and it was done in good spirits."
England aiming to be one of 'world's best' teams, says Earl
England have aspirations of greatness, asserted Ben Earl as he prepares to face New Zealand in a friendly at Twickenham.
The 26-year-old was optimistic about the progress England had made under Steve Borthwick despite registering two losses at the hands of the All Blacks in July.
England will be seeking revenge after losing the second match of the test in a devastatingly close 16-15 defeat. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso had scored a try to put England ahead after scores had been tied 10-10 at half-time, but two penalty kicks from Damian McKenzie ended their hopes.
Earl, however, believes the heartbreak has given his country an opportunity to develop.
“I think it’s an experience all the big teams go through, you have to go through some heartache to get over the line,” he told TNT Sports.
“It just feels like it’s the evolution of all the top teams, and we are a team that wants to be known as a great team, some of the world’s best.
“So we know the heartache is good for a while, but it’s time to go and do it at the right time. We got a glimpse of it against Ireland last year, and we feel we are due one, and we have learnt some really hard lessons over the summer, so we feel we are in a better place for it.
“We have always said you don’t win easily against us and that’s something we have developed over the last 18 months with Steve’s mindset and the boys getting hold of it, and now I feel it’s time to get over the line in one of these big games.”
New Zealand have won their last three matches, having defeated Japan and secured a double over Australia. They struggled against reigning world champions South Africa, however, as they failed to exact revenge on the Springboks in late summer tests falling to defeat twice.
Undoubtedly, the All Blacks still represent some of the best talent in the world, with Earl expected to line up opposite New Zealand’s superstar Wallace Sititi.
“There’s stardust littered all over the pitch isn’t there? There’s some pretty cool match-ups; it just feels like a game that isn’t going to disappoint,” he said.
England won’t be overawed, though. Instead, they aim to make their west London home a fortress for visiting sides to travel to.
“[Twickenham is] a place where we want to be really, really hard to beat. And we’ve always said in the camp, if you want to beat us at Twickenham you are going to have to be over and above the norm,” Earl said.
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