The 12 Betfred Super League clubs join rugby league's Road to Wembley this weekend as the Betfred Challenge Cup reaches the sixth round; 16 teams are battling it out for a place in the quarter-finals and at least one Betfred Championship club is guaranteed of making it through
Thursday 18 May 2023 11:40, UK
We look at some of the big talking points as the Betfred Challenge Cup reaches the sixth round this weekend, with the 12 Betfred Super League clubs entering the fray in the battle to reach the final at Wembley on August 12…
This time last year, Wigan Warriors were preparing for their 33rd Challenge Cup final appearance - a match they would go on to lift the trophy for the 20th time in as Liam Marshall's late try secured a 16-14 win over Huddersfield Giants.
With the final now pushed back to August, the Super League clubs have only just entered the competition and the holders are facing a blockbuster clash with 2022 Grand Final runners-up Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Saturday afternoon.
Adding some extra spice to that tie is the fact the teams met last week in Super League, with the Rhinos overcoming having Zane Tetevano sent off in the first half to triumph 40-18 at the DW Stadium.
"There have been some harsh words - I thought in that 40 [second-half] minutes to concede so many points, standards are standards," Wigan head coach Matt Peet said.
"I knew Leeds wouldn't go away, anybody that has watched them this year know they start slow in a few games, they hang around, they express themselves with the ball and have the ability to post points in succession."
Leeds, 14-time winners of the Challenge Cup, last triumphed in the competition in 2020 when they beat Salford Red Devils 17-16 in a final played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Harry Newman, scorer of two intercept tries in last week's win at the DW Stadium, is eager for more of the same from the Rhinos.
"It shows what we can do when we play like that," Newman told the Yorkshire Evening Post. "We are back at home, which helps and hopefully there'll be a big crowd at Headingley.
"It's the Challenge Cup and everyone wants to get to Wembley, so we know it'll be another tough game."
There are five other all-Super League ties in Round 6, including a repeat of the 2018 final which sees Catalans Dragons welcome Warrington Wolves to Perpignan on Saturday evening.
The two have already been involved in a fiery Super League showdown this year at Stade Gilbert Brutus which league leaders Warrington won 20-14 despite ex-Dragon Gil Dudson being sent off for punching Catalans winger Tom Johnstone
By a quirk of fate, he could return from a five-match ban for that act of foul play in this fixture and the Wales international prop is eager to make amends.
"I hold my hands up - it was a rush of blood to the head," Dudson told The Mirror. "I have to make it right now and kick on for the rest of the year to help the boys out."
Elsewhere, Adrian Lam is aiming to guide Leigh Leopards to cup final glory for the second year running and that starts with a trip to bottom side Wakefield Trinity on Friday night.
Lam, a Challenge Cup winner with Wigan as a player, oversaw Leigh's 1895 Cup final triumph over Featherstone Rovers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year and will be eager to build on the flying start they have made on their return to Super League, which sees them sitting fifth.
Meanwhile, recently appointed Castleford Tigers head coach Andy Last is preparing for a Sunday tie against home-city club Hull FC, where he was assistant to Lee Radford when the Black and Whites lifted the Cup in 2016 and 2017.
And Huddersfield Giants head coach Ian Watson goes up against the club he guided to a first final appearance in 51 years in 2020 when his side aim to kickstart their season away to Salford on Saturday.
Four teams from the second tier have made it through to this stage of the Cup, including two previous winners and another two clubs which have finished as runners-up in the past.
Halifax Panthers were surprise semi-finalists in 2019 and face a rematch against the team they faced at that stage in St Helens, who overcame the part-timers 26-2 in Bolton to reach Wembley.
The fixture is one which evokes memories of the thrilling 1987 final which saw Halifax triumph 19-18 over the Saints in front of over 91,000 fans and lift the trophy for the fifth, and most recent, time.
The Panthers welcome the reigning Super League and World Club Challenge champions to The Shay on Friday night and head coach Simon Grix wants his players to relish the opportunity to test themselves.
"We've got lads in our team who tell me they want to play Super League, they tell me they'd like to be in the premier competition so here's an opportunity to go pit your wits and have a contest with them and see how you go," Grix told Yorkshire Live.
"When we played them last time it was scruffy and all over the place but there was absolutely no lack of effort or endeavour so hopefully that's something we can replicate."
The same night sees Batley Bulldogs, winners of the first two editions of the Challenge Cup in 1897 and 1898 along with the 1901 competition, make the trip over to the east coast to face a Hull Kingston Rovers side currently sitting third in Super League after a strong start under Willie Peters.
Meanwhile, New Zealand international and ex-Catalans centre Dean Whare could make his bow for 1999 runners-up and former Super League outfit London Broncos after signing this week. Their tie away to 1931 runners-up York Knights ensures at least one Championship side will reach the last eight.
