TALK to anyone in rugby league about Leigh Centurions and the soundbites are always the same.

"Best team in the Championship ... bright young coach ... great marquee signing in Fuifui Moimoi ... are they ready to return to Super League?"

Well, if head coach Paul Rowley has his way, then Leigh will start 2016 back at the sport's top table.

His men dominated the Championship last year, racking up 23 wins from 24 regular-season games before beating Featherstone in the Grand Final at Headingley.

Now though, the stakes have been raised. Leigh have gone full-time and they have invested heavily in the signing of veteran NRL star Moimoi.

Rowley is a proud Leyther who started and finished his career at his home-town club either side of spells at Halifax and Huddersfield, while his father Allan is on the club's five-strong board of directors.

"We have retained most of our squad, which is very young, and it's certainly not promotion or bust for us this year," he said.

"It's a journey that we've got a lot of patience with because we have plenty of belief in our personnel and in how we play. We're confident we can give anybody a game but we're also fully respectful of the calibre of opposition we now face.

"It's a phenomenal competition and certainly, with Bradford and London coming down from Super League, they will be hard to beat. But rugby is rugby and it will be whoever wants it most on the day.

"There are some weird and wonderful grounds that London and Bradford aren't perhaps quite accustomed to. But it doesn't mean that we like visiting those grounds. It's still a nightmare for us as well – but that's the beauty of the Championship.

"Home advantage really does count and it's a league for the purists, made up of teams with a strong local flavour. It's a great competition and I think Sky have missed a trick by not giving it more publicity."

Rowley has performed a highly impressive job since taking over at Leigh in 2011, when he inherited only eight players and no backroom staff.

He now has plenty of talent at his disposal in the likes of Liam Kay, Jacob Emmitt, Martyn Ridyard and the 2014 Championship player of the year Ryan Brierley, who scored an incredible 43 tries last season.

Rowley, whose side ran Leeds close in last season's Challenge Cup quarter-final at Headingley, said: "Ryan is a fantastic lad, really humble, and just enjoys his rugby.

"He practises really hard and was the world's top try-scorer in all the leagues last year, which was a phenomenal achievement.

"He's developing all the time and also topped our list of try assists last year. A big part of what he does comes off Martyn Ridyard.

"We've got a very young, energetic team and we play a style to fit that as well. We work hard but we have fun too and we won't be dual-registering with anyone.

"Halifax is a club close to my heart, given all the years I spent there, and to see them partner up with a club like Hull KR is quite painful."

Rowley now has four coaches on his backroom staff – but how has going full-time affected his players?

"We have quite a studious bunch, so the students in the squad can continue to some extent," said 39-year-old Rowley, a talented hooker who played in England's 2000 World Cup campaign but never quite got the recognition his talents deserved.

"Tom Armstrong is studying for a masters degree in petroleum engineering and we have some great role models here. They should be promoted a lot more and I certainly want my young twin boys to grow up like some of the young men who represent our club.

"We've got a lot of personal trainers, self-employed lads, a roofer, an electrician – and yes, they have given up their jobs. But there is a lot of rugby left in them all.

"I suppose that is a measure of their belief in what Leigh do as a club and our vision, but also their own belief in themselves and their team-mates.

"At the end of the day, playing professional rugby league is living the dream and you don't get that opportunity too often."

Leigh host the Bulls in an intriguing Championship opener and Moimoi should feature.

Rowley said: "I think he'll make a huge impact. He's a massive name and it was a bit surreal to see Fuifui turn up for training in a Leigh shirt. But after the first five minutes, he was just one of the lads.

"He'll enjoy his rugby here and, with us having such a young team, the rest of the lads can bring out the youthful side in Fuifui too.

"It doesn't matter where you're born and bred, the club you represent becomes like your family. But when you're from the town, it's extra special.

"The identity of Leigh comes from its sport and predominantly rugby league, which we want to retain and be proud of."