Challenge Cup Final Wembley Weekend - James O'Brien's Video Preview - video Dailymotion

Yorkshire Post

The Yorkshire Post’s rugby league writer, James O’Brien, looks forward to Challenge Cup Final Wembley Weekend which brings us games featuring Wigan v Warrington, Leeds Rhinos Women v St Helens and Sheffield Eagles v Wakefield Trinity...

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00:00It's all about Wembley this weekend with three finals to look forward to on Saturday when

00:10Rob Burrow's remarkable life will be celebrated by the sport. He meant so much to not only

00:16fans of Leeds and people connected with Leeds, but the wider Rugby League family as well,

00:21as can be seen by the tributes to him down at Heddenley and beyond on social media. He

00:27meant an awful lot to an awful lot of people. Even beyond the sport, he did transcend the

00:33sport in his heroic battle against MND. But even before then, he was a figure that was

00:39known throughout the sport and beyond for his feats on the field as a small man in a

00:44big man's sport. He played above his weight in defence and he used his height to his advantage

00:51with the ball to devastating effects. He'll be sorely missed by everyone in Rugby League.

00:56But like I say, Saturday is a chance to celebrate his life and his achievements in Rugby League.

01:02His former club Leeds Rhinos are represented at Wembley by the women's team. They're playing

01:07St Helens for the third year running in the final. They've come up short in the previous

01:12two finals since, have won three in a row. They're aiming for four this weekend. It's

01:17going to be a tough, tough ask for Leeds, but they're in confident mood. I went down

01:20to train on Tuesday. They're in buoyant mood, as I say, and they really feel like this is

01:27their year now. They can take the next step. They've won the grand final before. They've

01:30obviously won the Challenge Cup before as well, but not since 2019. So it's a chance

01:34for them to get that. And as I spoke to Lucy Murray the other day, she said they're aiming

01:38for the treble. So this is the first part of that. It's not going to be an easy task,

01:42but it should be a very good game to kick off the weekend. Following that, we've got

01:47Warrington and Wigan, the main event, which kicks off at 3.07 in recognition of the number

01:53that Rob Burrow wore with distinction throughout his glittering career. And then the day finishes

01:59with the 1895 Cup final between Wakefield and Sheffield. A really interesting match-up,

02:05probably the perfect final really, based on the early rounds of the championship. Sheffield

02:10slipped up at Batley last week, but they were second up to that point. Wakefield are top,

02:15having won 10 from 10. They're big favourites to win the Cup this weekend. It'd be a nice

02:20early statement for them at the start of a bright new era, but Sheffield have been there

02:25and done it before at Wembley. Probably defied even bigger odds than this when they beat

02:30Wigan and they beat Wigness as well in 2019 in the inaugural 1895 Cup final. So they have

02:37got previous at Wembley. Wakefield are big favourites, but you never know who turns up

02:42on the day. It should be a great end to the day. There might not be that many people in

02:46to see it once the Wigan Warrington fans have cleared out, but I'll be there to see it.

02:50I'm very much looking forward to it.

Challenge Cup Final Wembley Weekend - James O'Brien's Video Preview

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