LEIGH Centurions head coach Darren Abram has signed a contract to stay with the new Super League club.

Abram and his assistant Tommy Martyn have both signed two-year deals at Hilton Park after guiding Centurions to National League One play-off success.

The two-year Super League contract was provisionally put in place at the start of the year as Centurions chased promotion from the National League.

Martyn has agreed to remain as Abram's assistant, having retired from playing following a nailbiting 32-16 extra-time Grand Final win over Whitehaven, which secured promotion.

Centurions executive director Derek Beaumont said: "It's no secret that Darren Abram has got a fantastic job outside rugby, but he's got aspirations to coach in Super League.

"We've identified certain players we want to sign. But the first job we've got on our hands is to identify the players we want to keep.

"A lot of the boys put their hearts on the line for us. They've done a great job and will go down in history as the people who got us into Super League.

"But I don't think it's any secret that we're going to have to heavily recruit in certain areas."

Leigh, who were relegated from rugby league's top flight in 1994, two years before the advent of Super League, clinched promotion at the fourth attempt, after three play-off near misses.

They can now look forward to renewing their rivalry with neighbours Wigan and to crowd-pulling derbies with St Helens and Warrington, but Beaumont accepts that the Centurions will be among the bookmakers' favourites for relegation.

Next year, two teams will go down to accommodate the entry of French club Perpignan in 2006, and Beaumont admits a 10th-placed finish would be a notable achievement.

"It's going to be very tough," he said. "I see us being in a mini-league of four fighting for survival and, without being disrespectful to clubs like Salford, Widnes and London, I see Leigh teaming up with those three. Those are the games we'll be pinpointing to win and do well in.

"If we can finish second in that group of four, we don't go down and we can build on that. Certainly it will be nice to play Wigan, Saints, Bradford and Leeds but we'll be looking at certain games to win. We'll be realistic in our campaign next year."

Beaumont accepts that the hard work starts now, such is the gulf between Super League and part-time rugby league.

"Last year we experienced a loss with the team and coaching staff we inherited and this year we were confident after appointing our own coach and playing staff," he said.

"We knew it was our best chance this year. We've been close all season with Whitehaven and part of me feels sorry for them because they are in the boat I was trying to row out of here last year.

"It's an immense achievement but we've got a lot of work to do, starting now. We've got a big board meeting this week and we need to appoint a chief executive and fill various other roles."

The club intend to build a disabled viewing area and introduce facilities for blind spectators, but Beaumont says that any major improvements would be a waste of time and money with Leigh planning to move into a new stadium by 2007.

"The Rugby Football League are aware that plans for our new stadium has been passed and they don't want us to spend too much money on a tiring stadium," he said.

"But we also acknowledge that we need to make it habitable for the fans that watch Super League.

"We've two more years to play at Hilton Park and we very much hope they will be in Super League.

"Our aim will be to go to the new stadium with a Super League side. We can hopefully then mount a serious challenge for the top six rather than staving off relegation."