Bevan French battled through pain barrier to star for Wigan Warriors

The Aussie No.1 scored two stunning tries in a 28-10 win against Leeds which moved the Warriors top of the table.

And Lam revealed afterwards that French was in serious doubt for the match until about three hours before the match.

A back injury suffered last week flared up on the morning of the game, and Lam said: "Not too many people know but he was a 50/50 chance of playing.

"He got the treatment in the morning and got through it, and it lifted the spirits of everyone when he got on the bus - he was a doubt until that moment."

Reaction from the Leeds camp

Tries by Dom Manfredi, Jake Bibby and Liam Farrell - his 100th for the club - helped secure an ultimately comfortable win behind-closed-doors at St Helens.

They also limited their opponents to two tries though replays showed Tom Briscoe's effort should have been ruled out as he had a foot in touch. Referee Robert Hicks awarded the try without consulting the video official.

"It was no try, (but) I don't really want to get into it... I'm not going to say anything," said Lam.

The win sent them top of the Super League table, and followed on from the 23-22 victory against Wakefield in their first match back since the restart.

"It was a really physical game, and it was a great club win for us. We had a lot of players out, a young pack, a young half... we just had to get through it with a strong performance and the two points," added Lam, who reported no fresh injury concerns.