Centurions Review: 2009:

Everything came down to the last game and as things turned out beyond, for the Centurions in 2009.

It seemed funny but somehow right that Leigh’s very Championship survival depended on a win against Haven, just as a result back in March took the Centurions further in the Northern Rail Cup competition.

It all started so brightly for Leigh. New surroundings brought new hope but the fact that Leigh didn’t actually get to move into premises until December really hampered preparations and to the man on the street only Stuart Donlan appeared to be a sound recruit while players such as Toa Kohe-Love, Mark Roberts, Mike Wainwright and perhaps crucially playmaker Dennis Moran all left for pastures new and Gareth Price was banned from playing for two years following a positive drugs test.

The best of the club’s young players were handed first team contracts and the new era of the Sports Village was ushered in by 4,500 noisy fans during the first official game at the stadium, a 26-6 defeat against Salford. The venue was further ramped up with the arrival of Wigan when despite a spirited show they ran in a 32-0 victory.

A loss for the club’s youngsters at Blackpool showed there was work to be done and only a late try edged a battle with Oldham in Leigh’s favour.in their final friendly.

It was down to business with a 74-6 thumping of London Skolars. This perhaps raised hopes that a squad missing another frontline halfback to Ian Watson, a strike centre and a wide running second row forward could perhaps do better. A loss at Featherstone followed with more penalties than points on display and hopes were further raised with another big win over Russian team Lokomotiv Moscow. A scratchy win at Swinton was glossed over with a big performance at home with Leigh taking a must win game 24-22 against Whitehaven.

A drop goal from Martyn Ridyard, who gave a great account of himself at halfback in the opening few games of the season after signing from Leigh Miners Rangers, brought a 23-22 win at Sheffield, but Leigh followed this with a poor first half against Batley who eventually claimed a 34-28 win at the LSV.

A tough away win followed at Doncaster before a tonking came at Wakefield in the Challenge Cup by 54-0. The following week saw Leigh win 10-8 at Widnes before Leigh saw a winning position of 16-2 slip to a 25-16 loss at home to Barrow. A heavy defeat in France was followed by a sickening home loss to Featherstone in which Rovers scored two minutes from time to even snatch a deserved bonus point away.

A change in coaching brought Paul Rowley to the helm and wins against Batley and Widnes again raised expectations that were brought to ground after Halifax ended Centurion interest in the Northern Rail Cup. He brought in MacGraff Leuluai from the Reserves and swooped for the signature of Championship point scorer supreme Mick Nanyn. Leigh then crashed to three league defeats in succession. It was all too easy for Gateshead as they ran out 40-12 winners before a big effort at Whitehaven brought no reward and Halifax put another bucketload of points past the Centurions at The Shay.

A short respite for the Northern Rail Nines when especially on Day One the Centurions looked a good bet for the final, seemed to galvanise efforts.

Green shoots of revival threatened as Leigh controlled their game with Sheffield for more than an hour, prevailing 32-24. That was followed by the darkest night of the season as Barrow finished almost seventy points better than the Centurions and Paul Rowley spoke for the first time of relegation. A nervous Leigh then had to fight from ten points down to rock bottom Doncaster before claiming a 31-28 win.

From somewhere Leigh came up with their night of the season and a convincing 26-6 win over Toulouse but the Centurions upturn in form coincided with both Batley and Gateshead.

Confidence received a slight knock at Gateshead where a couple of contentious calls from the match officials helped the hosts to a 30-24 win and Leigh were left looking nervously towards other results following a 27-18 defeat to Halifax that was much closer than the scoreboard suggested.

Despite disappointments, and the fact that not one but two Australian halfbacks in Reece Blaney and Joey Williams didn't make it to England, this has been an ultra competitive season with only the blow out defeats at Toulouse, Halifax and Barrow proving the real difference between a relegation scrap and play-off hopeful.

So it came down to one game, Leigh did their bit with a resounding 47-14 success but results elsewhere sent the Centurions down as perhaps the best team ever to be relegated at this level.

A few days later, Ian Millward confirmed that he would be joining the Centurions in time for pre-season training just as marquee signings Robbie Paul and Ricky Bibey confirmed they would still be at the Sports Village no matter what.

Millward flew in at the tail end of October with training commencing in early November.

That same month a public spat between chairman and investors left Gateshead teetering on the edge. The chairman placed that version of Thunder into administration and a new company was formed. The new Thunder then requested to build again from the lower division. This was accepted by the RFL and much to the delight of supporters, coaching staff and directors alike, the club was moved back to the Championship without playing a game or winning a cup.

The hard work then started to build the club’s reputation again following a difficult first season at the Sports Village for all concerned. With decent young players recruited such as Community Lions touring trio Jonathan Pownall, Anthony Nicholson and Sam Hopkins, a return to the club of John Duffy and the continued involvement of chairman Arthur Thomas, things look positive as Leigh Centurions move into the second decade of the 21st Century.