Saints and Wolves in Challenge Cup Semi Double Header
The Coral Challenge Cup Semi-finals are on this Saturday in a triple header at the University of Bolton Stadium. What a prospect! For O’Neills we have the mouthwatering possibility of two teams – Warrington Wolves and St Helen’s - running out in the final in O’Neills jerseys. If the results go our way of course!
Standing in St Helen’s path are part time outfit Halifax whilst the Wolves face Hull FC who defeated them in the 2016 decider. The Wolves are in action first at 2pm whilst the Saints follow on at 4:30.
The opening match of the day is the Women’s Rugby League Challenge Cup with Castleford Tigers facing Leeds Rhinos at 11:15.
Saints to Break Semi Hoodoo
Saints have not lifted the Challenge cup trophy since 2008, they are currently runaway Super League leaders with six games to go, and are looking to add the Cup to their trophy cupboard.
On Saturday the part timers of Halifax stand in their way. The bookies have them as 50/1 outsiders, led by former Saints player Steve Tyrer. Halifax giant killing run has seen them defeat League One Hunslet, knock out Super League London and then graft the quarter final against neighbours Bradford. But surely the Saints are a step up in class.
For Saints Lachlan Coote is likely to miss the game, the brilliant full back unlikely to recover from damaging his knee against Wigan that forced him to miss the last match against the Broncos.
Coach Holbrook told the St Helen’s Star: ”We are all good outside of Cootey. He picked up a bit of a knock against Wigan. He is getting precautionary scans today – I think he will be unlikely to beat the clock for Saturday.”
The other injury doubt Morgan Knowles is expected to be fit after picking up a knock while wearing the captain’s armband against London.
Saints are 10 points clear at the top of Super League and go into the semi-final in sparkling form. The good news is that it is their sixth semi-final appearance in ten years. The bad news that they have lost the previous five – including last year’s unexpected loss to the Catalans Dragons.
That and their poor showing in the Super League semi-final will be two defeats they wish to consign convincingly to the bin. They ran in eight tries in beating Wakefield Trinity by a convincing 48-10 margin in the quarter-final. If they can produce their best attacking form in Bolton on Saturday, Holbrook’s Saints should be well on their way to breaking their semi losing streak and returning to the Coral Challenge cup final with a double in their sights. Holbrook is in no doubt what it would mean to this famous rugby town to see the men in the famous St Helen’s jersey go for glory in Wembley:
“Wembley is as big a thing as you can get. We all know about the success Saints have had in our town and what the cup means and that we haven’t been there in 11 years.
“And the side and the squad as good as we have got, we want to get there. We want to get there for ourselves, but also for everyone in our club and the town. Those people will have such great memories growing up.”
He will be confident that skipper and inspirational hooker James Roby will be leading the team out in Wembley in the final.”
The Strength of the Pack for the Wolves
Wolves are second in Super League and they face third placed Hull who beat them in the 2016 decider.
They’ll be looking to the obvious threats from Chris Hill, Ben Currie and the brilliant Daryl Clark to carve out scoring opportunities. They come into the game on the back of defeats against Salford and Castleford which will have hurt their pride. A win over Hull and a challenge cup final place will soon dispel any lingering annoyances but can they win.
Kevin Brown and Stefan Ratchford are deemed unlikely to play on Saturday but Ben Murdoch-Masila is expected to be available after ankle surgery.
Talking to the Wolves website, second rower Ben Currie reflected on recent performances and what the travelling Wire support means to the players.
“Obviously the last two weeks haven’t been great for us. It’s a fresh competition and it feels like a new start for us this week. I know we’ve lost our last two games but we’re not down or thinking negative as a team. Things can easily be fixed and we need to reduce the number of errors. Hopefully this week has come at the right time for us.
“I want to get back to Wembley and set a few wrongs right. The picture is bigger than that though – we’re a team that has lost our last two finals despite a good history in the competition. We’re desperate to get back to Wembley and win a bit of silverware as a team. Those are the moments you remember when you finish your career.
“We always get a good following from our fans wherever we go whether it’s Catalans away, Magic Weekend or the finals. They come out in their numbers and that gives us that extra lift. If they can out-sing the Hull fans on Saturday hopefully that’ll help get us over the line to Wembley.”
Bolton Stadium Double Header Returns
Following the success of the 2018 double header, the Coral Challenge Cup semi-finals return to the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday 27 July and for the first time, the Coral Women's Challenge Cup final will take place alongside the men's semis.
The stadium, which has a capacity of just under 30,000, is no stranger to Rugby League with three World Club Challenge games and three international Test matches being played there between 1998-2007.
Kick-Off Times
Coral Women's Challenge Cup Final – 11:15 Castleford Tigers v Leeds Rhinos
Coral Challenge Cup Semi-Final 1 - 14:00 Warrington Wolves v Hull FC
Coral Challenge Cup Semi-Final 2 - 16:30 St Helens vs Halifax RLFC
All games shown LIVE on BBC