Edwin Ipape was well known to Leigh coach Adrian Lam but arrived in the UK as a virtual unknown early in the 2022 season, making his debut for the then Centurions in freezing conditions at York. The PNG international hooker soon made a name for himself, capping one of many stand-out performances by winning the Ray French Trophy as Man of the Match in Leigh Centurions’ victory in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final at Tottenham Hotspur.

After he scored 23 tries to help the club earn promotion to Super League, crowd favourite Edwin adapted impressively to the top-flight, playing a huge part in the 2023 Challenge Cup Final victory and going on to win a place in the Super League Dream Team alongside teammates Tom Amone, Josh Charnley, John Asiata and Lachlan Lam.

Edwin came through as a half back at Lae Snax Tigers in Papua New Guinea and worked his way through the grassroots system over there before earning trials with Manly. He scored a try for PNG against the touring England Knights in 2018 and played for his country in the 2022 World Cup before they were knocked out of the competition by England at the quarter-final stage.

Though troubled by injury in 2024 he still made a big impact whenever he played, and his sensational break and cut-out pass for Gareth O’Brien to score a try against Salford clinched Leopards’ first ever Super League play-off victory.

Early in the 2025 season Edwin was awarded the longest contract in Leigh’s history, the six-year extension tying him to the Leopards until the end of 2031.