Edwin Ipape saga not over amid Adrian Lam’s PNG Chiefs warning

Adrian Lam does not believe Papua New Guinea Chiefs’ pursuit of Edwin Ipape is over, despite ruling themselves out making a move.

A PNG icon, Ipape has naturally been linked with a move to the Chiefs heading into 2028 before their introduction to the NRL.

However, Ipape signed a new contract with the Leopards last year until the end of 2031, and crucially, Leigh said it did not include an NRL release clause.

PNG officials were in the UK last month, with General Manager Michael Chammas confirming they would not be pursuing Ipape due to his contract arrangements.

Lam was asked about those comments in his pre-match conference, but admitted he did not think that story was done with.

“It’s a little bit of foresight,” Lam said when asked about Ipape’s deal.

“I think I’ve mentioned in the past that I don’t think that one is over just yet so we’ll wait and see.”

Pushed further on that, Ipape said: “I’ll let you work that out, I’m not going to comment too much on that but he’s a big personality in the country.

“He’s massive for us, it seems like he’s contracted here until he’s 45-years-old, I hope that’s the case that he will be anyway but I just think that, we’ll wait and see what happens.”

What did Michael Chammas say?

Speaking to NRL.com, he said: “Everyone keeps asking us about Edwin Ipape.

“The reality is that Edwin Ipape signed a six-year deal to stay at Leigh and as far as has been reported, there is no NRL get-out clause for him, so we’ve got to respect his position there.”

Chammas added: “Just like the NRL, we know the rules we’re playing by and if things pop up, we’ll deal with them.

“But at the moment there are some rules around certain players that limit what we can do.”