Challenge Cup Final Preview - James O'Brien on Hull KR v Leigh Leopards - video Dailymotion

The YP's rugby league writer James O'Brien previews the 2023 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley between Hull Kingston Rovers and Leigh Leopards

Transcript

00:00 It's Challenge Cup final weekend and a day Hulky, our supporters have been waiting for

00:10 for eight years. They play Lee Leopards at Wembley on Saturday. The last time they were

00:16 at Wembley they suffered a record 15-0 defeat to Lee's Rhinos, they don't need a reminder

00:21 of that, but they have been reminded a fair bit this week given that Chris Chester, who

00:25 was the head coach at the time, is now at Lee as director of rugby and you've got Tom

00:29 Briscoe who scored a record five tries that day. He's at Lee on the wing as well. They've

00:34 got Zac Hardacre who played for Leeds that day as well, playing for Lee now. So there's

00:40 a lot of painful reminders for Hulky but this is a new team, obviously it goes without saying

00:45 it's a completely new team, new opposition in Lee, they're not playing the golden generation

00:50 of the Rhinos and it is, on paper at least, it's quite an even, two evenly matched sides.

00:58 Lee have got the better in both Super League games so far. The Knicks won at Craven Park

01:03 in the dying seconds right at the start of the season, then the Hammers, Hulky are in

01:08 the rain, probably Rovers' worst performance of the season the last time the two sides

01:13 met. But as we know in finals that counts for very little. You've seen sides before

01:18 who've got great records in the league against teams and then come unstuck on the day. It

01:23 will just come down to who handles the emotion of the occasion and the big game players,

01:28 who steps up for either side. Both sides are packed full of experience and big game players.

01:35 Look at Hulky on that left edge, you've got Sean Kenedal and Ryan Hall should he make

01:39 it. You've also got game-breaking players like Michael Lewis as well. And for Lee you've

01:44 got all that experience, you've got mentions on Briscoe, Zac Hardacre, Josh Charley, players

01:49 like that, John Asciata, Lachlan Lamb. So there's a lot of stars on show, it's going

01:53 to be a great occasion. A triple header as well, obviously it kicks off with the first

01:58 ever Women's Challenge Cup Final at Wembley, that will be an incredible occasion. Leeds

02:03 Rhinos take on St Helens and then the day is rounded off with the 1895 Cup Final Halifax

02:11 Panthers against Batley Bulldogs. So it's going to be a bumper day, if you're going

02:15 down to Wembley it's going to be an incredible occasion. Just three games as well to get

02:19 stuck into, you see it at Magic weekend but it obviously goes up a notch. It's a very

02:24 special occasion at Wembley every time rugby league goes down there. So if you're going

02:29 down enjoy it, if you're watching on the TV, strap yourselves in.

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