Willie Peters will send his players out at Wembley today with a simple message to ‘go and become legends’ by winning the Challenge Cup final. Super League leaders Rovers start as favourites against Warrington Wolves as the club seek only a second-ever final win in the competition after famously beating Hull FC in 1980 for their only other triumph.
Without a major trophy in 40 years, it is the latest opportunity for Rovers to end their trophy drought, having come agonisingly short in 2023 against Leigh leopards at Wembley and then losing the Grand Final to Wigan Warriors last season at Old Trafford.
Head coach Peters knows all too well what a victory at Wembley would mean for his players, for the whole club and for the entire east Hull community. Pointing to the legends of the past such as Roger Millward and the more recently departed Phil Lowe, Peters believes his current crop can earn their own legends status by getting their hands on the Challenge Cup trophy.
Asked about what a cup final win would mean, Peters said; “I’ll be honest, I don’t think about me doing that but I think about the effect it would have on our club. The people involved can be legends of this club for a long time.
“This new crop coming through can be potentially legends of this club, so that excites me and what would excite me is being in a WhatsApp group for the next 30-40 years with a group of guys that I had won a Challenge Cup with, and being able to keep in contact.
“Eventually when I go back (to Australia), to be able to come back and celebrate in 10-20 years and all that, that excites me.”
WhatsApp groups and reunion anniversary dinners aside, Peters knows what a victory will mean for a support base who are heading to Wembley in large numbers, with Rovers fans expected to outnumber Warrington in the capital by three-to-one.
He added: “We are a community club and that’s what we are, so we’ve always set our sole aim which is to make our community proud. That is what we aim to do every week, so we’ve got another chance to do that again this weekend.
“Obviously, yeah, there’s a little bit more on the line, but it’s still the same aim regardless, we want to make them proud, but we want a result.”