The Yorkshire Post's rugby league writer James O’Brien looks ahead to this weekend's Wembley showdown between Hull KR and Warrington Wolves as well as the 1895 Cup Final clash between Featherstone Rovers and York Knights
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00:00Hello and welcome to the latest York's Post Rookie League podcast where this week we are
00:13concentrating very much on Wembley. Hall KR versus Warrington Wolves is the main event but
00:18obviously we've got a lot of interest as well in Featherstone versus York in the 1895 cut which
00:23follows but primarily for this week myself and James O'Brien the York's Post Rookie League
00:31correspondent are going to be looking at the main event Hall KR versus Warrington and 40 years since
00:37the Robins last won a major trophy James I think we've sort of touched on it in recent weeks
00:43here and there. I don't think anyone's mentioned that but I'll ask you again are they going to
00:50end that wait on Saturday? Well they've got to aren't they they're just yeah it can't go on much
00:56longer they've been reminded it's been rammed down the throats just for the past few years really
01:01since they re-emerged even under Tony Smith when they were getting to semi-finals they were
01:10the rivals over the river they were reminding them they haven't won anything since 1985 and it's
01:16even though they've improved every year since then they're still in the same situation but
01:21this team just seems built for winning silverware and getting over the line
01:25yeah but once they get out there and it's just one of those they've just got to get over the line
01:32somehow if they lose this one I'd be really worried for them going forward because that's a lot of
01:38baggage to carry not just losing the last it would be three finals in a row just 40 years of baggage
01:46and pain we can get rid of all that this weekend and they've just got to go and do it now if they
01:51perform as they have been this season and don't get a stage fright I think they've won 16 out of 17
01:56and they've probably won that other game with a bit more in the tank they've played all the week
02:00before whereas we're going to have a free week and that showed at the end but yeah if they carry on
02:05playing as they are they'll win but it's it's not as simple as that is it in willie peters the coach
02:11the head coach they seem to have a have a man who he's very calm very unruffled knows how he wants
02:18his team to play he doesn't get too carried away with any of the hype or anything like that like a
02:23lot of coaches I suppose you could argue he just seems to be the man who is he's more likely than
02:29anyone before him to to deliver that silverware that the club so craves yeah it's very much about
02:35process you can't really knock him out of his stride if you we try with the with our lines of
02:41questioning but it's and you have tried several times but he's um he's an australian and he plays
02:47with a plays with a very straight bat um i love the cricket over there and i know he does as well so
02:54um but yeah just in terms of his coaching ability well look at the job he's done there
03:01it seemed like tony smith had done a decent job but the
03:04willie peters has taken on to a whole new level probably should have won in in 2023 but
03:13he'd probably say himself and i think he did yesterday that they probably weren't quite ready
03:17to win at that point um it might not have been him it might have been elliot mincella actually but
03:22obviously he's the captain now um but yeah it does feel like this team's ready he's got them into a
03:27position now where they they've got all the tools and that's probably the the worst part for coaches
03:33no they've got he's given them all the tools and they're he's built a side ready to do it but
03:38yeah you just don't know what's going to happen on the day do you i think back in 2023 there were a lot
03:43of um individual errors brad schneider missed touch in in golden point and as a coach you just can't
03:49legislate for that kind of thing can you so as long as they carry out his game plan and as i say
03:56perform as they have been this season and don't don't get a stage fright they should win but
04:00orrington have got a lot of match winners as well and
04:03okay our fans were only reminding that max need won the lance top trophy has man of the match twice
04:10for all fc uh and he's kicking games unbelievable in in matches like this so okay as forward pack
04:16will have to get on top and stay on top limit his time and space and it's same for george williams who
04:21who is past fit but is he much fit we'll we'll wait and see they met just what 10 11 days ago
04:28um okay are running out comfortable 30 31 12 winners uh something they followed up with a with a with a
04:36massive win against saint helens last friday as well so they are a form team but
04:39does does that have any bearing on on on what happens at wembley does it does it does it give
04:46that does it does it give hulk ar more confidence and that more more confidence than warrington or is
04:52it a case of warrington will be a very different looking team that's it yeah um i think sam burgess
04:57he didn't he didn't throw that game um because because they're not in a great situation in the league
05:02but he's definitely thrown everything into this final and why wouldn't you because it's a
05:06great opportunity one game away from lifting silverware but quite a few players who didn't
05:11play that day or play this weekend um george williams who i mentioned there um paul vaughn as
05:17well tober king more than likely and maybe others as well um so it'll be a very very different looking
05:24more inside and with you got williams and sneed in the halves um that's a fair old half-back pairing
05:30then you've got matt duff views very unpredictable he could go from the sublime to the ridiculous
05:35um in the space of a few minutes but he could he could win warrington the game he's one of those
05:40who could pop up with one or two tries so yeah okay i need to be wary of those guys but with the
05:47pack they've got i'd expect some yeah i'd expect some to to dominate hulk air sorry for hulk air to
05:53dominate warrington um and then they've also got i remember mentioned that much when there's like
05:59michael lewis and even tyrone may who who it feels like he's been building to this game is he was a
06:05bit off in the grand final last year but he has uh improved the areas that willie smith willie smith
06:11willie peter's asked him to improve um and yeah he just i feel like he's going to step up this week
06:18okay hulk air have been pretty uh lucky in the sense that they've been able to be quite consistent
06:25with their lineups this season but he has um willie peter's has been forced into a bit of a
06:30reshuffle himself hasn't he it's not a major change not when you compare to what the different how
06:35different warrington might look to how the team their team did two weeks ago but he has had to make
06:39a small adjustment and he could be forced well not forced but he could uh have the luxury of making a
06:44big decision in terms of michael macaloram who seems to be head spinning in his recovery and could
06:49potentially um be fit to play yeah that is um that is a very interesting one because he's only
06:56he was ruled out three months and he's only halfway through his rehabilitation period so it's a case of
07:01maybe strap him up and send him out there the thing about macaloram is he won't be expected
07:07whereas williams is coming back playing the first his first game in eight weeks you know as a halfback
07:12as the captain will be expected to play the full game whereas macaloram will start play maybe
07:1720-25 minutes tops and then hand it over to jesley and so that's all he needs to get through so i
07:22guess even if he went off after five minutes it backfired then they're not really it doesn't knock
07:29the the um the game plan out too much so you can understand why they're considering it and he's such
07:34an experienced player and he leads all the defensive efforts and if warrenson they're lining up and
07:39seeing michael macaloram so next to jared where i agree so it's not it's not a pleasant sight for
07:45for opposition players um but it could backfire i remember okr um a few years ago in the semi-final
07:52sony smith played cainlin net with the same injury or a similar injury a bicep injury and he went off
07:57after inside the first 10 minutes so that backfired spectacularly you do tend to remember the instances
08:03where players play half fit and go off you don't i can't remember many where where where they throw an
08:10injured player half fit player in then it comes off only people only remember when it backfires so
08:15it's a big call it is a big call and you mentioned the other uh selection poses for for willie peters
08:21he's basically reverting to the lineup he had in the semi-final because arthur morgue's cup tied um so
08:27jack broadbent to fullback uh james batch lose obviously you usually a back rower to center he's
08:34got two tries from center in the semi-final and he's one of those players that could probably play
08:38anywhere he's hard working he gets he just he just does the job basically and it's not that much of a
08:45change from second row to center anyway so yeah i don't think i'll have a problem it's not ideal to
08:50have someone playing out of position on a big stage like that but if anyone can do it he can
08:54and just just plus lastly on macaloram obviously he's got a big part to play
08:58you know there is a big significant risk because if he did sort of suffer a relapse and and sort of
09:04puts him back in his recovery then you know he he has a bigger part to play in terms of in terms of
09:09the super league title itself later down the line doesn't he so he's got a he's got to bear that in
09:14mind as well no that's true um it's one of those how much more damage can he do so i guess that that's
09:21what they thought the other year with can on it because if it comes off the bone or whatever you
09:26will just get it operated on but macaloram might be in a different situation because he's halfway
09:30through already um but yeah it's one of those if you if you can get him through 20 minutes and then
09:36he'll just basically just go back and finish off his rehab which is crazy really so he'll probably be
09:42out for another six weeks after this so it's it's a great story for us we need we need stories like
09:48this in wembley week and they tend to and the teams always tend to deliver so we're very grateful
09:53and fingers crossed he is fit for okr and he gets through the game and obviously okr come on with
09:59that trophy and stop us talking about 40 years and all that because i'm sick of it myself myself
10:07just quick word about um featherstone versus hull in the 1895 cup which follows um paul cook
10:14obviously coming up against the club that he left at the end of last season nice sort of side story
10:18there as well how do you see that one going it's a really interesting game at ffv york um
10:24two two sides are informing the championship as you mentioned there's there's that subplot there with
10:31paul cook and his assistant jed corcoran who were um york last year with mark applegarth now they're
10:38heading up um the revival at featherstone so yeah that's an interesting interesting story and they're
10:46closely matched in terms of form york are in better form they've only lost once in in a couple of months
10:52than that was against featherstone so uh it has the makings of a really close game it's just a shame
10:57i think mark applegarth touched on it yesterday that is the last game so you do tend to find that
11:03most people have gone oh they come for the main event and then go home so that is a shame um and
11:09it's the same for the women as well so i don't think there is a um the perfect scenario for the
11:15finals the chance cup final the men's is always going to be the main event and then the others just
11:21fitting around that but it is great for those players to play at wembley it's the 1895 cup is it
11:26gives lower league uh players a chance to step out at wembley whether whether it's uh full or not
11:33it's a great experience for them yorkshirepost.co.uk