The Challenge Cup Final is almost upon us and for Hull KR and Warrington Wolves, there’s a lot on the line. But who needs to win more? We asked our team to tell us which team needs to climb the Wembley steps more than the other this weekend.
Matthew Shaw
It’s always your year up against Since 1985. There are no two teams that are mocked more frequently than Warrington Wolves and Hull KR when it comes to trophies in the cabinet. One of them will silence the goaders this weekend.
Who needs it more? Both clubs would argue that they do. Six years without a trophy is too long for Warrington and 40 years for Hull KR, well, it goes without saying.
Ultimately it depends on how you judge it. In terms of who needs it more in the context of their season, you’d have to go with Warrington. They appear well off the pace in terms of Grand Final hopes and this is likely to be their only shot at silverware this year. Hull KR, on the other hand, are top of the table, in control of their own destiny when it comes to the League Leaders’ Shield, and favourites to reach another Grand Final.
But when looking at the bigger picture, it’s hard to look past Hull KR’s need to win this game. They’ve come so far in recent years and established themselves as genuine trophy contenders. But they don’t want to be contenders anymore, they want to be winners, and the only way for this team to progress now is to win. They need this more than Warrington.
James Smailes
There’s no competition on who needs to win this match the most. It’s staggering that a club the size of Hull KR and one which has enjoyed periods of dominance as one of the top players in the sport, has only won the Challenge Cup once.
If you’re only going to win it once, doing so against your bitter rivals is not a bad way to go about it, nonetheless it’s a record that needs addressing. Nothing is given, it’s earned, and the club has certainly earned the chance to win a first major trophy in 40 years.
Two years ago hearts were broken, last year at the Grand Final there was more hope than expectation, but this year they’re the rightful favourites and the best team, by some distance too if both play to their potential.
The progress at Rovers in recent years has been steady and impressive, but it needs a trophy now to take things to the next level. This is a superb chance to pick up the major win that could kick-start a trophy haul over the next few years, but miss out and the pressure to claim a trophy only increases.
Warrington don’t have that pressure. Yes, they are a club that expects to be challenging for honours each year, but from what I hear even their own fans are turning up not expecting to see a win. This feels like a bonus for the Wolves that will make up for a season of frustration in the league, it doesn’t have the potential to be defining like it does for Rovers.
Dave Craven
It’s the tale of the Challenge Cup’s two nearlymen – but Warrington Wolves don’t need to win even half as much as Hull KR.
Yes, Warrington lost out against Wigan Warriors last year, a third Wembley defeat in four outings since 2016. They froze when it mattered most and it cost them.
Sam Burgess is, then, still awaiting his first bit of silverware as a head coach. But let’s not forget the Wolves lifted the famous trophy as recently as 2019. They have won the Challenge Cup nine times in total and four times in the last 15 years alone.
Compare that to Rovers. They have won it just once. In 1980. And doesn’t EVERYONE know about it. Since that iconic day when they defeated their city rivals Hull, the Robins have been to Wembley four times for Challenge Cup finals and lost them all. Not only that, one of them was a record-breaking 50-0 hammering by Leeds Rhinos – it’s the tenth year anniversary of that debacle – and a painful memory that needs eradicating.
But the main reason Rovers need to win this one more than Warrington is because of their general trophy history and that maddening stat of never having won anything since 1985. Willie Peters is desperate to end that narrative.
However, if they don’t succeed on Saturday, the Aussie coach is in danger of seeing his Super League table-toppers being labelled as chokers.
The heartbreaking Challenge Cup final golden point loss to Leigh just two years ago is still fresh.
Having lost that, and then fallen in last year’s Grand Final, they hope to make it third time lucky. But a hat-trick of major final losses inside two seasons could be disastrous – and potentially knock their confidence considerably, or even derail them completely, as they bid to return to Old Trafford as well.
Josh McAllister
It’s been mentioned before on All Out Rugby League, but it feels like the time has finally come for Hull KR to put an end to their long-running trophy drought and take that next step forward.
It’s been 40 years since they last lifted silverware, and winning the prestigious Challenge Cup on Saturday would be a fitting milestone in their ongoing rise – both on and off the field, exemplified by their inclusion in next year’s rugby league blockbuster in Las Vegas.
Sam Burgess will be desperate to guide his Warrington Wolves to victory, especially after their disappointing showing under the iconic Wembley arch last year against Wigan Warriors.
But Rovers are hungry. They’ve come close before both in the Challenge Cup and in Super League, and now it truly feels like the stars are aligning. The time to end the narrative might finally be now.