CRAIG Stapleton will make his first appearance for Leigh Centurions on Sunday - less than 24 hours after jetting in from his native Australia.

Stapleton has volunteered to play against Whitehaven at Hilton Park and will make his debut alongside fellow Aussie, exciting young half-back Jason Kent.

Front rower Stapleton, who was with Parramatta last season in the NRL, flies back into the UK with his family on Saturday and was given the option of resting up by head coach Darren Abram.

"I didn't think he'd want to play after such a tiring journey," says Abram. "But he rang me on Monday and asked if I'd give him 15-20 minutes to blow the cobwebs away. With that sort of dedication and attitude, I couldn't refuse."

Stapleton spent a couple of weeks with his new team-mates prior to Christmas before flying back to Sydney to join his heavily pregnant wife for the birth of their baby. Now they have been given the all-clear to come to England.

Although Abram is keeping his squad under wraps, he has confirmed that young half-back Kent with be another of his new recruits to make his bow in Leigh colours.

"He's looked good in training and Im excited at the prospect of seeing how he goes on Sunday," Abram says of the former Cronulla Sharks star.

Leigh will field a strong side against Whitehaven but, as in the St Helens warm-up game on Boxing Day, there will be a sprinkling of Academy players on view.

"Sunday's result doesn't really matter,"adds Abram. "What I'm really looking for is how the team is gelling and putting into practice some of the elements we are working on in training. We might try a few new kick-chase elements and run a few penalty options.

"At this stage it's all about trying things, seeing how they work and then tailoring them to our overall game plan."

Leigh's long term injury casualties are progressing well but Leigh discovered this week that prop Darren Fleary will miss the start of the Super League campaign.

Fleary's knee blew up over Christmas and he's had minor surgery for clear out floating debris. "He'll be back in five or six weeks," says Abram.

Richard Marshall will be out for about three months after snapping tendons in his finger in the Boxing Day game but Paul Rowley, Oli Wilkes and Ian Knott, who all underwent close season surgery, are all close to full fitness again.