Adrian Lam facts for kids
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Personal information
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Born | Rabaul, Papua New Guinea |
25 August 1970 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 12 st 0 lb (76 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information
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Position | Scrum-half | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information
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As of 18 November 2021
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Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a professional rugby league coach and former player from Papua New Guinea. He is currently the head coach for the Super League team, Leigh Leopards.
Adrian used to play for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League and the Wigan Warriors in the Super League. He also played for his home country, Papua New Guinea, and for the Queensland State of Origin team. He even played for a special "Rest of the World" team!
He was the head coach for Papua New Guinea from 2007 to 2012. He also helped coach Australia in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Contents
About Adrian Lam
Adrian Lam was born on August 25, 1970, in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. His mother was from Liverpool and moved to Australia when she was a child. She met Adrian's father, who was Chinese-Papua New Guinean, in Rabaul. When Adrian was seven, his family moved to Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.
Adrian's Playing Days
Adrian Lam had a very successful career as a rugby league player. He played in 14 State of Origin matches for Queensland. In 1995, he was even named "man-of-the-match" in one of the games.
He started playing for Papua New Guinea in 1994. He played 11 games for his country, scoring 3 tries and kicking 1 field goal. In 1996, he was the captain of the Papua New Guinea team when they played against Australia. The next year, in 1997, he was the captain of the "Rest of the World" team against Australia. He also led the Papua New Guinea team, known as the Kumuls, to the quarter-finals in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.
Adrian played as a halfback for the Sydney Roosters. He played 146 games for them, scoring 42 tries and 6 field goals. He also played 119 games for the Wigan Warriors. For Wigan, he scored 44 tries, kicked 1 goal, and 10 field goals. He even scored a try for Wigan in the 2001 Super League Grand Final.
Adrian is special because he is one of the few players who played for Queensland in the State of Origin and also for another country. He is also the only player to be captain of a Queensland team and captain of a national team other than Australia.
Adrian's Coaching Career
Adrian Lam became the coach of the Papua New Guinea Kumuls in 2007. He led them during their 2008 Rugby League World Cup campaign. He later left his coaching role with the Kumuls in 2009.
In 2007, he was chosen to be the first coach of a new team called the Northern Pride in Cairns. However, a few months later, he was offered a job as an assistant coach for the NRL Sydney Roosters. So, Adrian moved to Sydney before the Pride's first game.
In 2009, he became an assistant coach for the St. George Illawarra Dragons. He then coached the Dragons' Under 20s team in 2010 and 2011. Adrian returned to coach Papua New Guinea again in 2012.
Adrian came back to the Wigan Warriors in 2019 as their head coach. In 2020, he coached Wigan to win the League Leaders Shield. He also led them to the 2020 Super League Grand Final, where they narrowly lost to St Helens.
After three seasons, Adrian announced he would leave Wigan at the end of the 2021 season. His last game with Wigan was a playoff match against Leeds, which they lost.
On November 17, 2021, Adrian was announced as the head coach for the Betfred Championship team, Leigh Centurions. In 2022, he coached Leigh to win the Million Pound Game against Batley, which meant the club was promoted back to the Super League. Leigh also won the RFL 1895 Cup that year.
In 2023, Adrian led Leigh to a big victory in the 2023 Challenge Cup final against Hull Kingston Rovers. This was Leigh's first major trophy in 52 years! He also guided Leigh to finish fifth in the 2023 Super League season.
Adrian's Family
Adrian has two sons, Lachlan Lam and Bailey Lam. His son Lachlan Lam is also a professional rugby player. Lachlan plays for Papua New Guinea and for the Leigh Leopards, just like his dad coaches!
Awards and Achievements
Adrian Lam has won many awards and honours during his career as both a player and a coach.
As a Player
Wigan Warriors
- Challenge Cup
- Winners (1): 2002
Queensland
- State of Origin
- Winners (2): 1995, 1999
Individual Awards
- Super League Dream Team
- Winners (3): 2001, 2002, 2003
- RLWBA Player of the Year:
- Winners (1): 2002
As a Head Coach
Wigan Warriors
- League Leaders' Shield
- Winners (1): 2020
Leigh Leopards
- Challenge Cup
- Winners (1): 2023
- RFL Championship
- Winners (1): 2022
- Championship Leaders' Shield
- Winners (1): 2022
- RFL 1895 Cup
- Winners (1): 2022
Individual Awards
- Super League Coach of the Year
- Winners (1): 2023