St Helens versus Wigan Warriors is one of the great sporting rivalries, and all, but the seemingly nailed-on clash of two massive rugby league titans in the Betfred Challenge Cup final on August 12 has had to make way for a refreshingly favourite-free Wembley showdown. And rugby league feels so much more appealing as a result.
When Leigh Leopards face Hull Kingston Rovers in this season’s finale we will be guaranteed a first win in at least 43 years for the victors. Rather than familiar finalists coming head-to-head there will be a tale of two underdogs, both of whom have learned from previous mistakes to set themselves up as well-run entities off the field and are gaining the rewards on it as a result.
The Leopards overcame St Helens in a tense, tight encounter at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington on Saturday to continue their marvellous 2023 campaign. Adrian Lam’s side have broken all sorts of records among newly promoted teams to stun the Betfred Super League week-after-week. They now sit second on the league ladder and their 12-10 win over the world champions has booked them a first trip to Wembley since their 1971 victory against Leeds.
READ MORE:
- Rovers pip Wigan in golden-point thriller
- Leigh overcome Saints to reach first final in 52 years
- Leopards 8/13 favourites to win Betfred Challenge Cup*
Having been relegated straight back down to the Championship in their previous three Super League campaigns, the Centurions rebranded as the Leopards and – more importantly – built their on-field stocks in a big way ahead of their latest crack at the top flight. While there was much talk during Saturday’s game about Leigh being new to such a stage, such a view ignores how impressively owner Derek Beaumont bought for the 2023 season.
Their back three now consists of many years of top-flight experience in Gareth O’Brien, Tom Briscoe and Josh Charnley, while the additions of John Asiata, Zak Hardaker, Jack Hughes and Oliver Holmes has injected further capable old heads in positions in which they might previously have gone for big names without the smarts or motivation to carry Leigh through big moments.
There’s a dynamism about them too, with Lachlam Lam brilliant at half-back and Edwin Ipape winning new fans every week for his wonderful intelligent play from dummy half, so often setting opposition teams straight onto the back foot. And coach Adrian Lam has quickly answered critics who claimed the later days of his stint at Wigan had showed an inability to coax creativity out of a more than capable squad.
Rovers joined Leigh in the final with a dramatic golden-point win over Wigan on Sunday, with new signing Brad Schneider repeating his previous week’s heroics against Leeds Rhinos by kicking an extra-time drop-goal winner. As dream arrivals go, the scrum-half’s first two games in red and white could barely have been better scripted.
His new side head to Wembley looking to bury the memories of their last visit to the national stadium, their 50-0 loss to Leeds in 2015 breaking many a record – including the widest margin in a Challenge Cup final and a first five-try haul by a player, the Rhinos’ now-Leigh star Tom Briscoe.
But under Willie Peters the Robins have started to find their feet once more having followed a fantastic start to the season with a worrying drop-off in form once they lost the influence of full-back Lachlan Coote to career-ending concussion issues and star man Jordan Abdull to repeated injuries.
The scrum-half most recently suffered a serious hamstring injury in a heavy defeat to Catalans Dragons, and his absence sparked the search which led to them snapping up 2022 NRL Rookie of the Year Schneider from the Canberra Raiders on a short-term deal.
Rovers’ only Challenge Cup triumph to date was a famous one, winning 10-5 in the 1980 final against local rivals Hull FC in the only showpiece ever to be competed by the two teams in the city. But fans of the red and whites know only too well that it is time for new history to be made.
It will be for one side or the other. Leigh, winners twice but not since 1971, face Hull KR, who themselves need to break a 43-year duck. It’s the kind of final that has been all too rare in recent years. Chuck in the fact it is the Catalans Dragons and the Leopards who head up the Betfred Super League table after 19 rounds and there is something so energising about the state of play in British rugby league right now.
It might be a bit presumptuous to call it a new dawn, but 2023 has brought us the sort of landscape many fans have been crying out for for decades.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
