ADRIAN LAM feels Hull KR can “thank” Leigh Leopards for developing Tom Amone after the Tongan international announced his return to Super League yesterday.
The 29-year-old made almost 100 appearances for Leigh during a three-year spell that included a Challenge Cup success in 2023.
And Amone was linked with a return to the Leopards before it was announced that he will join KR next season.
For Lam, however, the Leigh club wanted to go in a different direction.
“What Tom has done for us, I’ll be forever grateful as a coach in regards to that Challenge Cup and it’s a moment that group will forever have in their hearts with our fans,” Lam said.
“Our fans have a real close connection with Tom because of that and they were hoping for it to happen but sometimes things don’t work out.
“I talk with Tom regularly and he did tell me that he was maybe looking to head over to Super League a couple of weeks ago so I said we (Leigh) would take a look if that was the case.
“But at the same time we were speaking to three or four other players in a similar position. Collectively, as a group, we have chosen to head in a different direction and it’s as simple as that.
“Congratulations to Tom for getting a great deal and he will always be welcome back here.”
Lam did go on to praise his side’s recruitment policy and how the Leopards helped develop Amone into the player he is today.
“We’re not far from getting someone over the line. It’s happening every day on a 24-hour basis and Chris Chester (Leigh’s head of rugby) is working really hard on certain players.
“We we do here slightly different when we take a look at recruitment and retention we identify two things: any players that are available that we feel are not quite there yet and that we can bring on like Tom Amone.
“He had played only a handful of NRL games and came off the bench for the first year in the Championship until we got an injury to a front-rower.
“We developed Tom to the level he has got to and I think Hull KR can probably thank us for that in the amount of work we’ve done with him.
“It didn’t work for him in the NRL and he has come back but I think we do a good job on finding the next talent or a senior player with experience.
“It is those key moments you have to choose the right person – are we looking for youth or experience? That’s where we are at as a club.”
