https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ns-3887027

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ns-3887027

Sounds like he was offered a lot of money from another club - there's not much we can do about that

Yep, reads as if we couldn't offer him a big enough contract as Leigh have done. From the looks of it another addition is coming in with the money they were offering Zak, assume that will be Nene McDonald.

I really like Zak as a player. However he’s not getting any younger and we are steadily recruiting younger, probably faster players. I think on balance a Nene Macdonald would be more useful to us now.
Hopefully Hooley will be first choice FB by end of next season…

Leigh is an odd choice if he left Wigan to be closer to home!

Anyway as Ive said elsewhere we are in a bit of a SC mess because of paying players too much money, so doing it again with Zak would be daft.

Yeah agree Chris, I'm gutted to lose him but if we're bringing in someone like Nene McDonald, I think on balance that's a good signing. We can make more major moves end of 2022/23 season.

I'm not gutted per se Id have liked him to stay but I don't think its a disaster as some are making out.

There is also no guarantee he won't have another 'incident' at some point aswell.

I'm a bit conflicted here tbh. I'm not a fan of Zak as a person at all and wasn't particularly enamoured with him coming back. I do think in rugby terms we're a better team with him in it. If he's taken the £££ at Leigh over a reasonable offer at a team who've just been in a Grand Final it's interesting in terms of his ambition. Appreciate he's not getting any younger but surprises me a little and that's before you take into account the significant fuss he made at Wigan about the distance from home. Do we think he's taken just a one year contract there? Sounds like he was wanting more commitment so would be a surprise. If it is a longer deal will be interesting to see how he responds if they go straight back down…

Probably a combination of amount and length of contract better elsewhere. I don't blame him going for the money. If he were a few years younger ambition might have been a bigger driver, but this is likely to be the last big deal he gets. If he squeezed an extra year out of Leigh then good luck to him.

We'll be weaker without him than with him, but if we're now playing hardball on contracts it will pay off in the long term.

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.