Latest news with #SuperLeagueGrandFinal
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Warrington and Hull KR battle for cup supremacy
George Williams' (left) Warrington Wolves will contest the Challenge Cup final for the second season in a row but will need to overcome Elliot Minchella's (right) in-form Hull KR [SWPix] Betfred Men's Challenge Cup final - Warrington Wolves v Hull KR Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Saturday, 7 June Kick-off: 15:00 BST Coverage: Live on BBC One from 14:00 BST; commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 and BBC Radio Merseyside and BBC Radio Humberside; live text on BBC Sport website & app Advertisement The Challenge Cup makes its return to the capital with three games taking place under the Wembley arch on a glorious day of rugby league. After the curtain is brought down on this season's women's competition, the men take to the field as Warrington Wolves face Hull KR. But will Sam Burgess win his first trophy as a head coach and lead Warrington to a 10th victory in the competition? Or will Super League leaders Hull KR continue their ascent into the echelons of northern hemisphere rugby league with a first Challenge Cup in almost half a century? BBC Sport has taken a look at what is at stake. Advertisement "I try not to get caught up in the fantasy land stuff. I just stay in the moment. We know the challenge in front of us and we know they're a good side. We've got to work on getting a good performance out. "If you ask me that question after the game, I might give you a different answer. For now I'll just stay in the present moment." It is fair to say that Burgess is not losing sleep over the fact he has a winless record as a player and coach at Wembley. Warrington were on the losing side under Burgess in last season's final, as they were defeated by eventual quadruple winners Wigan Warriors. Advertisement Meanwhile as a player, Burgess started for England in their losing 2013 Rugby League World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. Burgess said he has learned a lot from his 18 months as a head coach, including plenty from his most recent experience at the national stadium. "There were a couple of things I got, I wouldn't say wrong, but we could have been better in a few areas. It won't happen twice in a row with those things," he said. "Whether there's a difference in outcome we'll see. Any bit of experience you can get, it was my first year as a head coach and I learned plenty." Advertisement For Willie Peters' Hull KR, the sky is the limit, having dazzled in Super League this season. Peters has led his side to the Challenge Cup final for the second time in three seasons but has been on the losing side in both the 2023 final and last season's Super League Grand Final. He said that his side have had a difficult time maintaining their impressive form having set up Saturday's trip to Wembley almost a month ago. "It's a difficult period for the players because there's no doubt they would have been thinking about this game three weeks ago," Peters told BBC Sport. Advertisement "But where I can see the growth in the side is that they are able to put it aside and go after each Super League game, because any team that plays us knows they have to play well, but they are also going after us to beat us because we are at the top of the table at the moment. "We know that every team is going to come to try to knock us off." Hull KR have lost only once in all competitions this season - against Wigan in Super League - but have still set the pace among their rivals this term. But Peters knows that it would prove that his side have broken into the top tier of clubs in Super League if they were able to turn their form into winning a trophy. Advertisement "So what the players have done in being able to handle what goes into it and around a Challenge Cup final and putting it aside, they've done a remarkable job because it can be difficult," he added. "Now it's about just focusing on this week and getting this week right, which is different again because you can't get this one wrong." Hull KR's most recent triumph in the Challenge Cup came in 1980 when they beat city rivals Hull FC in a narrow 10-5 affair at Wembley. Now, a new generation of Robins players stand on the cusp of adding a second Challenge Cup final victory to their history. Advertisement Second-rower James Batchelor started for the Robins in their most recent Challenge Cup final in 2023 but was on the losing side against Leigh Leopards that day. He moved to KR from Wakefield Trinity ahead of the 2023 season and believes his career has prospered since leaving his hometown club. "I made a decision that I thought would help me grow as a player, as tough as that decision was, and I feel vindicated in that now," Batchelor told BBC Sport. "Moving away from my home town I've definitely grown as a person, and the faith that Willie has put in me in all that time has helped me grow as a player as well." Advertisement As for the prestige of playing at Wembley, Batchelor said that the sheen of taking to the field loses its lustre if you cannot bring home the win. "Yes, Wembley has a lot of history behind it but if you don't get the win it doesn't really matter and you're not too bothered about where you've played," he added. "So I'm more just focused on the game and doing the job like we do every week and getting it done. You can sit and enjoy it afterwards." Team news Unsurprisingly, Warrington Wolves name captain George Williams in their squad after he declared his fitness earlier this week. Advertisement Also, full-back Arthur Mourgue is missing from the Hull KR line-up as he is cup-tied having moved to Craven Park from Catalans Dragons after the start of this season. Warrington (from): Williams, Yates, Tai, Vaughan, Powell, Ratchford, Harrison, Fitzgibbon, Lindop, Wrench, Holroyd, Sneyd, Currie, King, Crowther, Russell, Philbin, Josh Thewlis, Jake Thewlis, Dufty, Wood. Hull KR (from): Davies, Hiku, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Litten, Waerea-Hargreaves, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella, McIlorum, Luckley, Whitbread, Broadbent, Richardson, Tanginoa, Brown, Doro, Leyland, Horne.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘Every moment matters': Hull KR bidding to end 40 years of hurt in Challenge Cup final
For a while around the 1980s, it must have felt like the good times were never going to end for Hull KR: Challenge Cup winners in 1980; winners of the old Premiership in 1981 and 1984; champions of England in 1979 and then again in 1984 and 1985. Legends like Roger Millward, Gavin Miller and George Fairbairn – men who are still revered on one side of Hull to this day – at the heartbeat of one of the finest sides in British rugby league's history. But then, nothing. Darkness. One final defeat became two; two became three. There was relegation to the second division twice and then, in 1995, into the third tier 10 years on from their finest hours. Advertisement Related: Wigan secure back-to-back titles after Bevan French's stunner sinks Hull KR Crowds dwindled to under 2,000 and Rovers flirted with administration and financial disaster on more than one occasion. But in recent years under Willie Peters, they have re-emerged as one of the game's leading forces, making the Challenge Cup final in 2023 and last year's Super League Grand Final. Saturday's meeting with Warrington at Wembley in the cup final will be their third major final in as many years, but for all of the good surrounding Rovers, the one thing is missing to cement this squad's legacy is a piece of silverware. For 40 years, Hull KR have failed to win a major trophy; a point of ridicule on the west side of the city, and an agonising drought on the other. Warrington Dufty; Thewlis, King, Tai, Lindop; Williams, Sneyd; Vaughan, Powell, Yates, Holroyd, Fitzgibbon, Currie. Interchange Ratchford, Crowther, Philbin, Harrison. Advertisement Hull KR Broadbent; Davies, Hiku, Batchelor, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Waerea-Hargreaves, Hadley, Whitbread, Minchella. Interchange McIlorum, Tanginoa, Brown, Luckley. Referee L Moore. This weekend should be the moment that wait ends. Hull KR are the best team in Super League in 2025, and are heavy favourites on Saturday. But Wembley has already left a scar on this squad with their golden-point defeat by Leigh in the 2023 final, and the prospect of history can weigh heavy on the shoulders when the stakes are at their highest. 'There will be a time when I'm not here and I'll look back on how good these days were but it will really mean nothing unless there is a trophy in the cabinet,' their captain, Elliot Minchella, explains. 'We understand where we're at and what we've got at stake. Nothing can drive you more than experiencing what it's like to lose at Wembley. Six hours on a bus back to Hull … it felt like someone had died.' Advertisement Minchella stands on the verge of becoming the first Hull KR captain in a generation to achieve what others have failed to. But he is just one part of this impressive Rovers squad with the England half-back and reigning Man of Steel, Mikey Lewis, New Zealand great Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and full-back Jack Broadbent others to watch. The presence of Waerea-Hargreaves, one of the NRL's finest-ever players, should give Rovers added confidence they can get over the line at last. He was signed for moments like this, and the pain of their recent final defeats also adds a layer of determination. 'We might not have won those finals in the last couple of years but we learned a lot of lessons from them,' their second-row forward James Batchelor says. Getting on for 20,000 Hull KR fans will be at Wembley, and few would deserve a moment of success more than Rovers' owner, Neil Hudgell. He has poured millions into the club over the past 20 years, kept it alive through some dark times and is now witnessing the rebirth of what he saw himself in the 1980s: a thriving Hull KR. Related: Warrington's Paul Vaughan: 'We didn't deliver last year so have to take this opportunity' Advertisement Hudgell, who has worked tirelessly as the lawyer of the victims of the Post Office scandal for years, would be quick to insist this is not about him. But Hull KR would not have reached this point today without his support. This club is intertwined with its community in east Hull in a way few others are, and success this weekend could have a revolutionary impact beyond the four walls of Craven Park. 'When I moved to Hull, I underestimated what this club means to people,' Minchella says. 'You can't walk around a supermarket without someone asking you what's happening at the club and you have to embrace that, because people care. What we do on the field has a massive impact on the lives of people. Every moment matters for the people in this city. It defines their week. 'We try to represent the people of east Hull with the way we play. We never give up and we work for everything. I know what it'll do for the local area if we can win. It's time for us to go out and do our job now.' The walls of Craven Park are adorned with the images of those legends from 40 years ago but this club is in desperate need of a new set of heroes to worship. For Millward, Miller and Fairbairn in 1985, read Lewis, Minchella and Peters in 2025 if the final goes the way many expect.
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Leeds second-row Bentley signs new two-year deal
Leeds Rhinos second row James Bentley has signed a new two-year deal to remain with the Super League side until the end of the 2027 27-year-old joined Leeds in 2022 from St Helens and has made a total of 63 appearances for the his first season he helped Rhinos to the Super League Grand Final where they were defeated by Saints at Old Trafford."I've enjoyed working under Brad [Arthur], especially this season - I feel like I've been getting back to playing some of my best rugby. I'm really happy to be staying and excited about the future with the club," he said., external"I had a big pre-season with Brad, and I enjoyed the challenge. We're starting to see the benefits of that now, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year."Bentley has made nine appearances for the Rhinos this term, scoring one try, with his side currently sixth in the Super League table."James is exactly the type of player you want in your squad - tough, committed, and always willing to put the team first," head coach Brad Arthur added."He's had a good season so far and continues to work hard to develop his game."
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Wade's Wigan move 'due to changing Premiership'
Christian Wade has said his upcoming cross-code move from Gloucester to Wigan Warriors is a product of how much the Premiership is 33-year-old former Wasps and Racing 92 star will swap one Cherry and Whites for another when he joins Wigan later this summer after he has finished the 2024-25 Premiership season with move comes after he played American football for the Buffalo Bills as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway from 2019 before returning to rugby union three years later having never made a regular season appearance."There were some opportunities but the lay of the land in the Premiership has changed quite a lot, especially since I left in 2018," he told the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast."I think there are quite a few people in my position with my sort of age and experience where, unless you've been at a club your whole career, there are some difficulties around extending contracts and stuff like that."Since Covid, the salary cap has been lowered but also [finances] in general. I think that's why you see people exploring opportunities outside the Premiership." 'I would have liked to have seen the game progress' Since making his debut in 2011, Wade has had a varied playing career which saw him spend eight years with Wasps while he also spent time with French side Racing 92 after his NFL journey came to an end and before his Premiership return."I don't think there's too much of a difference, which I don't know is a good or a bad thing. Because being away [from the Premiership] for seven years, you would like to see the game progress on a bit more," he said."It seems as though there are fewer international stars for one. When I was at Wasps, we had a lot of people from different parts of the world."A lot of young guys were coming through and as you can see now, they're spread around the league. But it's a good thing as well to see some homegrown talent and rugby being played."I would have liked to have seen the game progress a lot more in the span of almost a decade." Wade returned to England last summer when he joined Gloucester, where he has scored seven tries in 10 Premiership matches this includes two hat-tricks, taking his try-scoring tally to 89, fourth on the league's all-time his prolific try-scoring record Wade is yet to win any major honours during his career, but he could still bow out at Gloucester with silverware, with his side still in play-off contention this Gloucester miss out, however, Wade could be in the frame to win his first trophy in a different sport as he joins a Wigan side who broke records in 2024 to win a historic quadruple of every domestic trophy on offer and are in the frame to retain their league title this about how it would feel to potentially win a Super League Grand Final with Wigan, Wade added: "It would be crazy, but time will tell what the future holds."For now, I'll focus on these last four games with Gloucester. We're still in with a chance of making the play-offs even after last weekend's result. Once I've finished here then I'll be onto Wigan to see how I can develop and help the team up there."
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'We're Wigan winners - but fulfilment is coaching now'
Wigan Warriors. Titans of northern hemisphere rugby league in 2024, scooping up every trophy they could in an incredible quadruple-winning campaign. Yet it says a lot about how much of a formidable, cohesive and well-oiled unit they are that no individual figure leaps out as being the reason for their all-conquering season. Head coach Matt Peet, with club legends Sean O'Loughlin and Tommy Leuluai by his side as his assistants, has transformed their fortunes in a short space of time. But has the impact O'Loughlin and Leuluai made in Wigan's runaway success been unheralded among the many headlines written in the aftermath of last term? BBC Sport spoke to the pair about their coaching journey and attitudes towards success. Wigan's transformation into world and domestic champions in 2024 began three years earlier when Peet arrived at the club, ready to take charge for the 2022 campaign. O'Loughlin had retired from playing at the end of a difficult 2020 season, which was played under the backdrop of Covid lockdowns and finished with an agonising defeat at the hands of rivals St Helens in a stunning Super League Grand Final finale behind closed doors in Hull. That loss brought down the curtain on a 19-year career with Wigan, during which he reached eight Grand Finals, won 10 major trophies, captained England and played 11 times for Great Britain. As one door closes, another opens. A pathway to coaching began the following year, which eventually led to O'Loughlin joining Peet's backroom staff 12 months before Leuluai. "I got to find my feet a little bit, but as soon as you're in the deep end of having some ownership about something, it's a tough role to be in," O'Loughlin told BBC Sport. "You learn on your feet and you learn as you go. You make mistakes and you try to get better at it." Leuluai, on the other hand, went right into the cut and thrust of coaching. Having retired at the end of 2022 - itself a positive campaign having won the Challenge Cup just months into Peet's tenure - he stepped in as assistant the following season. "I was really new into it, I hadn't coached much before so I was quite fresh and learning on the run, really," Leuluai said. "It's been quite successful for everyone at the club. The first couple of years were obviously successful, but for me it was just a massive learning experience." In any professional sport, and particularly having experienced the kind of successful careers O'Loughlin and Leuluai had, it would be understandable if the pair saw the end of their playing days the natural point to try something new. That never seemed like an option, however. "As much as learning coaching is a completely different thing, I think with the rugby side of things, that is something me and Tommy have been involved in for a long time and we feel like we can add a lot to it," O'Loughlin offered. "And other than that, I didn't know what else I wanted to do." O'Loughlin had dipped into coaching while he was still playing, passing on his knowledge to the club's academy during Peet's time as head of youth. Leuluai targeted a coaching career ahead of time, too. He said: "I always wanted to have a crack at coaching. I enjoyed, I suppose, the technical side of the game and breaking down a team. It's something that I've known for a long time. "I played for like 20 years professionally, it would almost be silly just to not stay in and at least have a crack. I've been in the game for that long. I've learned so many lessons, I almost look at it like I am passing on all the stuff that I've learnt down to this new group of players. "There were times in my career where I thought I could have a break from it and leave it. But the opportunity [to coach] came as soon as I finished playing and I just wanted to jump into it." In the lead-up to the 2025 campaign, Wigan chief executive Kris Radlinski paid tribute to O'Loughlin and Leuluai's efforts in an interview with BBC Radio Manchester, saying they were part of a long line of "legendary humble figures". But does being humble, keeping their head down and getting on with the job at hand mean their roles in Wigan's success are unfairly overlooked? For Leuluai, he would rather not occupy the limelight for his part in what the club has achieved. "I get a bit embarrassed that we must get talked about a lot [more] than other assistants would because we played before," he said. "I sometimes get a bit cringe really when they speak about us as players and they don't really do it to other assistants just because we played so well. I would like less attention if I'm honest. "When I think of unsung heroes, I look at people in our staff like [academy head coach] John Duffy and the role he's played in helping me as a coach." For O'Loughlin, the change in success mindset from playing to coaching is clear. "We've won stuff as players and we've experienced that and we enjoy watching the lads get that joy and fulfilment from winning trophies," O'Loughlin said. "When we win the trophies, I don't feel like I need to get my hands on the trophies to celebrate it. I enjoy watching the lads get hold of the trophy and celebrate it. That's where I get my enjoyment from."
