Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

coach, and former player, who is currently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

club Leigh Leopards. He played for the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

in the

. He represented ,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

State of Origin team and the Rest of the World team. He was the head coach of Papua New Guinea between 2007 and 2012. He was assistant coach for Australia in the 2021 World Cup.

Background

Lam was born 25 August 1970 in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

, Papua New Guinea. His mother was from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and migrated to Australia as a child. She met Lam's father, a Chinese-Papua New Guinean, in Rabaul. The family moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n state of

when Lam was seven.

Playing career

Lam had a fertile career with 14 State of Origin football matches for

, including a man-of-the-match performance in the third game of the 1995 series. He made his Test début for

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in 1994 and went on to win 11 caps, scoring 3 tries and kicking 1 field goal. In 1996, he captained the 'Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Team' against Australia. In 1997, he captained the 'Rest of the World' team against Australia. He captained the Kumuls to the quarter finals in the

2000 Rugby League World Cup The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams, held between 28 October and 25 November and hosted between the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and France. ...

. He played at halfback for the

in their 2000 NRL Grand Final defeat by the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. He played a total of 146 club games for the

, scoring 42 tries and kicking 6 field goals, as well as 119 first team games for

, scoring 44 tries, kicking 1 goal and 10 field goals, including a try in their 2001 Super League Grand Final defeat by the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

. Lam is one of only a few players to have played State of Origin for Queensland and for a country other than Australia. He is also the only player to be captain of a Queensland side and captain of a national team other than Australia.

Coaching career

Lam became coach of Papua New Guinea Kumuls national rugby league team in 2007, and was in charge for their 2008 Rugby League World Cup campaign. He quit as Kumuls' coach in 2009 after a dispute with the

Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League Inc. is the governing body for rugby league in Papua New Guinea. They are based in the capital Port Moresby. History They were founded in 1949 and have been members of the Rugby League International Fede ...

. In June 2007 he was appointed inaugural coach of the new QRL Wizard Queensland Cup Northern Pride team based in

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

. However, three months later he was offered the position of assistant coach at the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

under their new coach

Brad Fittler Bradley Scott Fittler (born 5 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is an Australian rugby league commentator, television presenter, and former player. Fittler captained both New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales ...

. Lam was released and he left

for

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

before the Pride's first game. In 2009 he moved to the St. George Illawarra Dragons as assistant coach under Wayne Bennett. Lam became the coach of the St George-Illawarra Dragons Under 20s team in 2010 and 2011. He returned as coach of Papua New Guinea in 2012. Lam returned to

in 2019 as interim Head Coach and later in 2019 made his spell as Wigan coach full time as he signed for another year after Shaun Edwards opted not to join Wigan for 2020. In 2020, Lam coached Wigan to the League Leaders Shield and guided them to the 2020 Super League Grand Final against St Helens where Wigan lost 8-4 after a try scored by the Saints following the full-time siren. Lam was seen openly crying during the post match interviews. In round 20 of the

2021 Super League season Super League XXVI, known as the 2021 Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021 ...

, Wigan were defeated at the

DW Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...

by St Helens 2-26 under Lam's coaching. It was the first time in the club's history, since moving to the DW Stadium in 1999, that they had failed to score a single try. The following week, in Round 21, Wigan were beaten at home by

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

0-14, and this was the first time in Super League era that Wigan had been held scoreless at home. On 31 August 2021 after a number of poor results, Lam announced that he would be leaving Wigan at the end of the 2021 season, after three seasons in charge. Lam's final game in charge of Wigan came in the first week of the 2021 Playoffs Series against

where Wigan lost 8-0. On 17 November 2021, Lam was announced as head coach of Betfred Championship side

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

, replacing interim head coach Kurt Haggerty. On 3 October 2022, Lam coached Leigh in their

Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual rugby league game that decides which Championship teams will be promoted to Super League, and which Super League teams would be relegated for the following season. Instituted in 2015 and ...

victory over

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

which saw the club promoted back to the

. Lam achieved the double in his first full season as Leigh coach as the club also won the

RFL 1895 Cup The Rugby Football League 1895 Cup is an annual rugby league knockout tournament for clubs in the RFL Championship and RFL League One. History and format There have been many cup competitions for the lower leagues of rugby league. In 2002 the ...

. On 12 August 2023, Lam guided Leigh to victory in the 2023 Challenge Cup final against

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

. It was Leigh's first major trophy in 52 years. Lam guided Leigh to a fifth placed finish in the 2023 Super League season. Leigh were eliminated in the first week of the playoffs against Hull Kingston Rovers.

Personal life

He has 2 sons Lachlan Lam and Bailey Lam. His son Lachlan Lam is a professional rugby player, who represents Papua New Guinea and plays for the Leigh Leopards. In 2010 a court ordered former State of Origin teammate Dale Shearer to repay approximately $1.5m to Lam for an outstanding loan, which dated back to 2005.

Honours

As player

Wigan Warriors

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

**Winners (1):

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Queensland

* State of Origin **Winners (2):

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Individual

* Super League Dream Team **Winners (3):

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

* RLWBA Player of the Year: **Winners (1):

As Head Coach

Wigan Warriors

* League Leaders' Shield **Winners (1):

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Leigh Leopards

**Winners (1):

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

**Winners (1):

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

* Championship Leaders' Shield **Winners (1):

**Winners (1):

Individual

*Super League Coach of the Year **Winners (1):

References

External links

Wigan profilePlayer Details at stateoforigin.com.au
*
Adrian Lam Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''.
Wigan Warriors profile
2009-10-24)
Lam to take Wigan coaching roleMeet Wigan star Adrian Lam
*http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/970000/images/_973699_lam150.jpg

*http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/24/1082719678288.html?from=storyrhs {{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Adrian 1970 births Living people 20th-century Papua New Guinean sportsmen 21st-century Papua New Guinean sportsmen Leigh Leopards coaches Northern Pride RLFC coaches Papua New Guinea national rugby league team captains Papua New Guinea national rugby league team coaches Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Papua New Guinean emigrants to Australia Papua New Guinean people of Chinese descent Papua New Guinean people of English descent Papua New Guinean rugby league coaches Papua New Guinean rugby league players People from Matalai People from Namatanai PNG Prime Minister's XIII coaches Queensland Rugby League State of Origin captains Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from New Ireland Province Sydney Roosters players Wigan Warriors coaches Wigan Warriors players