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EXCITEMENT is building for the start of the new rugby league season.
Warrington Wolves' Challenge Cup campaign starts tomorrow at Whitehaven in Cumbria, while their first Super League match of 2025 will follow hot on its heels next weekend.
Sam Burgess and his players will be looking to build on the foundations set last season when The Wire were so close, reaching the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley and the play-offs semi-finals in Super League.
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Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Lost for words but unbelievably proud,' says director of rugby
THE way in which Warrington Wolves had Challenge Cup glory snatched away from them left Gary Chambers feeling 'lost for words.' However, the club's director of rugby declared himself 'unbelievably proud' of how the organisation as a whole handled the occasion despite falling to defeat against Hull KR. Advertisement For the second year in a row, Chambers and The Wire must pick themselves up from Wembley heartbreak although the way in which this game turned against them may make that task even tougher. Leading 6-2 and having generally enjoyed the better of proceedings, they were just two minutes away from victory when Tom Davies' try chalked off their lead, with Mikey Lewis' conversion snatching an 8-6 victory for the Super League-leading Robins. Having opted to keep their build-up as relaxed and low-key as possible, their approach was so close to being a masterstroke and Chambers admitted he thought the players had the game in the bag. But despite the agonising way in which their day ended, he says he cannot find any criticism of how they handled things. Advertisement 'You've got to play for 80 minutes, haven't you? But I can't knock anybody in there – they're absolutely devastated,' he said when speaking to the Warrington Guardian post-match. 'They showed what they can do – they applied themselves brilliantly and I'm unbelievably proud of them, but it's just the game. 'I'm literally lost for words – I was sat there thinking we had it. 'The message coming off the pitch was that everybody was feeling good, they were in control and they knew what they had to do. 'It felt like we were in a good place – there was a bit of confusion when Duff (Matt Dufty) had to come off quick because of his injury but up until then, we were focused and the game plan was working. Advertisement 'Our prep had been good, but you just never know with this game.' Warrington are now tasked with turning around an inconsistent Super League season which sees them sit eighth in the table, two points outside of the play-off spots. They return to league action at Leeds Rhinos on Saturday and once the pain eases, Chambers expects the players to gain confidence from how they attacked the occasion. 'Before the game, the talk outside was 'what was the point in them even turning up?' he said. 'They did turn up and they more than made a spectacle of it. 'They acquitted themselves really well. They'll kick on from this and they will push on.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
I'm over the moon – Hull KR's homegrown hero Mikey Lewis celebrates Wembley win
Mikey Lewis did not fear missing for a moment as he cued up the last-gasp conversion that would bring an end to 40 trophy-less years and clinch the Betfred Challenge Cup for Hull KR at Wembley. Despite facing a kick that strayed out towards the right touchline, Lewis did not hesitate to boot the two points that ripped the trophy from Warrington's grasp, sealing an attritional 8-6 win and shattering a decades-long hoodoo for the Craven Park club. Advertisement There is almost no-one for whom victory will have meant more than Lewis, who was born and brought up in the city and has brimmed with passion for the Robins since he came through the ranks, making his debut as an 18-year-old in 2019 and claiming the prestigious Super League Man of Steel award last year. Mikey Lewis lifted Hull KR's first Challenge Cup in 45 years (Richard Sellers/PA) Yet, despite his likely status as a potential match-winner, Lewis, elevated to kicking duties in the absence of Rovers' Cup-tied full-back Arthur Mourgue, revealed it was most definitely not a case of practice makes perfect. Looking dazed after the raucous celebrations that greeted the final hooter just moments after his kick sailed through the posts, Lewis said: 'I don't practice, so it was one of them where I trusted the process and, if I got a good strike on it, I knew it was over straight away. Advertisement 'We said we can win this game in the 79th minute and that's what we did. I'm over the moon, proud. No-one can ever take this off me now – I'm a Challenge Cup winner and it will be with me for the rest of my life.' Rovers had stood less than two minutes away from more final misery as Warrington entered the final stages with a four-point lead after a first-half try from Josh Thewlis and a superb performance from Marc Sneyd, whose mastery of the slippery conditions made him only the second player to win a third Lance Todd Trophy for man of the match. Lewis, who had kicked a two-point penalty to give his side an early lead, was not at his best as the Super League leaders struggled to make an impression before the dramatic finale which saw Tyrone May's kick missed by Warrington's Aaron Lindop and Tom Davies pounce to slap down the vital try which was awarded after a tense video review. Advertisement Despite fully intending to bask in the glow of a long-awaited trophy, Lewis stressed the focus will soon shift to building on their breakthrough and finishing the season with more silverware, culminating in the Grand Final in October. Hull KR left it late to edge past Warrington at Wembley (Nigel French/PA) 'I reckon it's going to feel like a bank holiday for the next week or so. We're going to enjoy this moment and then we'll go from there,' added Lewis, whose next engagement was a Sunday trophy parade with the rest of the Rovers players and staff from Craven Park to Hull's city hall. 'We thought it was our time. That was our theme – it's our time now and that's what it was. Hopefully that helps us a lot. We're just going to keep working hard, keep grounded and enjoy it.' Advertisement Rovers' new era will begin in earnest when they return to Super League action against Catalans Dragons on Friday and captain Elliot Minchella believes the manner of his side's win, despite being second best for the majority of the final, will stand them in good stead. 'We will definitely take a lot of belief out of that,' said Minchella, one of six Rovers winners, including Lewis, who had featured in the matchday 17 for their Wembley defeat to Leigh in 2023. 'We didn't play anywhere near our best, but we found a way to win and the best sides tend to do that to themselves. We'll probably look back and learn loads of things from this match. We made it tough for ourselves, but our resilience, grit and toughness has never been questioned.' Warrington head coach Sam Burgess is also hoping for a boost after a performance in which his side made a mockery of their lowly eighth place in the Super League table. Warrington came up short in a thrilling Challenge Cup final (Richard Sellers/PA) 'I think everyone can see what sort of team we are. Although our form in the league is not where it needs to be, everyone is aware of who we are and what we stand for as a group,' said Burgess. 'There's a lot of pain in there, but we'll take a really positive thing out of it. We have great belief and it'll give us the resolve and determination to attack the second half of the season.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Hidden performances and theories supported as cup final stats emerge
Toby King was quietly impressive in defeat at Wembley as he returned from injury (Image: Richard Sellers/PA Wire) AS the sporting saying goes, there is only one stat that really matters – the scoreline. And as we all now know, that all-important figure ended up agonisingly against Warrington Wolves in Saturday's Challenge Cup Final as they saw what would have been a memorable victory snatched away in the dying seconds. Advertisement However, more statistics that have emerged in the aftermath of the game lend weight to the theory touted by Wire boss Sam Burgess and indeed many observers – that the better, more dominant team on the day ended up on the losing side. In total, Warrington were in possession of the ball for 30mins 53secs and of that time, just under half (13mins 41secs) was spent in the Hull KR half. Indeed, they had the ball within 20 metres of the Robins' try line for 6mins 41secs in total. By contrast, Rovers enjoyed 3mins 59secs of ball inside the Wire 20. Their total territory figure for the game was 53 per cent and they actually increased the amount of territory they had in the second half to 55 per cent having been at 51 per cent before the interval while they also edged the completion rate statistics – they finished 83 per cent of their sets compared to KR's 79 per cent. The hidden performances in a brave team effort Marc Sneyd will deservedly get the plaudits in terms of individual displays having won the Lance Todd Trophy for the third time in his career. Advertisement He was clearly the game's standout player but from a Warrington perspective, there were a few other performances that went more under the radar. Upon his return to the side from injury, Toby King again showed how reliable and effective he is in coming away from his own try line – his 194m gained from 22 carries was a figure bettered by only three players from either side who passed the 200m mark. Hull KR winger Tom Davies – the scorer of the game's winning try – led the metre-making charts with 241 ahead of Wire full-back Matt Dufty (235) and his Robins counterpart Jack Broadbent (231). However, King's 89m gained post-contact and six tackle breaks are the highest figure of any player from either side on the day. Advertisement Luke Yates, too, put in a superb display on both sides of the ball as he produced arguably his best performance since joining The Wire midway through last season. The 125m he gained with the ball from 13 carries was the highest of any Wire forward – Ben Currie (117) and Paul Vaughan (115) were just behind him – and only Robins bulldozer Kelepi Tanginoa (132) could boast a better figure among the opposition. In defence, though, he was faultless as he completed 35 tackles without a single miss while none of his tackles were deemed ineffective in Opta's stats. Yates had the highest figure of the three players to enjoy 100 per cent tackle completion rates, with teammate James Harrison (26) and Hull KR's Sauaso Sue (25) being the others. Advertisement Currie and Adam Holroyd jointly topped Wire's tackle charts – both recorded 43 with a single miss – followed by Sam Powell (36 with three misses). For the game as a whole, KR skipper Elliot Minchella led the way with an exceptional 57 tackles while two of his teammates also cleared the 50-tackle mark – Dean Hadley and Jai Whitbread both made 53.
