Match Preview: Challenge Cup Final

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josie andrews
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Match Preview: Challenge Cup Final

Post by josie andrews »

In association with Davanti Tyres, here is everything you need to know ahead of Wigan Warriors’ Betfred Challenge Cup Final against Huddersfield Giants.

Wigan Warriors face Huddersfield Giants in the Betfred Challenge Cup Final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London on Saturday 28th May (3pm K.O.).

Campaign so far

Wigan have paved their way to the final in fine fashion. In Round 6 they met Salford Red Devils at home, where they made light work of the occasion with a 20-0 win. In the Quarter Finals they came up against Wakefield Trinity on the road, and despite a spectacular start from Trinity, Wigan took the 36-6 win. A semi final tie against St Helens at Elland Road was a tie to savour as Wigan put in a fantastic display to take a 20-18 win and book their spot in the Final.

The opposition faced Barrow Raiders in their Round 6 meeting, as Giants edged out a spirited Raiders side with a 30-16 win. Next up they faced Hull FC at the Quarter Final stages, where despite a closer affair Huddersfield came away 24-16 winners. In the Semi Final, they faced Hull KR at Elland Road as the Giants eased past their opponents in a 25-4 victory to see them into the Final.

Team news

Matt Peet has named his Final squad on Thursday afternoon with two changes from last week. Sam Halsall and Matty Nicholson come out of the squad, as Tommy Leuluai and Kaide Ellis come in. Sam Powell will serve the final of his six-match suspension.

Wigan Warriors squad to face Huddersfield Giants:

Matt Peet has named his Cherry and Whites squad for Saturday’s Final.


1 Bevan French
2 Jake Bibby
4 Iain Thornley
5 Liam Marshall
6 Cade Cust
7 Thomas Leuluai
8 Brad Singleton
10 Patrick Mago
11 Willie Isa
12 Liam Marshall
13 John Bateman
14 Morgan Smithies
15 Kaide Ellis
16 Harry Smith
17 Oliver Partington
19 Ethan Havard
20 Liam Byrne
22 Joe Shorrocks
23 Jai Field
24 Abbas Miski
28 Brad O’Niell

Opposition

Huddersfield Head Coach Ian Watson also named his side for the fixture on Thursday afternoon.

1 Will Pryce
2 Jermaine McGillvary
4 Ricky Leutele
5 Ashton Golding
6 Tui Lolohea
7 Theo Fages
8 Chris Hill
9 Danny Levi
10 Michael Lawrence
11 Josh Jones
12 Chris McQueen
13 Luke Yates
14 Matty English
15 Joe Greenwood
16 Jack Cogger
17 Owen Trout
19 Adam O’Brien
20 Oliver Wilson
21 Leroy Cudjoe
22 Louis Senior
23 Olly Russell
25 Innes Senior
29 Sam Hewitt

Previous meetings

Wigan and Huddersfield have met 12 times in the Challenge Cup before, but haven’t come head-to-head in a Final since back in 1920. The two sides have played each other home and away in the Betfred Super League already and are all square with a win apiece.

Last ten meetings:

Huddersfield 32, Wigan 22 (SLR12, 12/5/22)
Wigan 22, Huddersfield 12 (SLR3, 24/2/22)
Huddersfield 12, Wigan 14 (SLR9, 16/7/21)
Wigan 16, Huddersfield 12 (SLR14, 11/7/21)
Wigan 19, Huddersfield 6 (SLR20, 6/11/20)(at Emerald Headingley, Leeds)
Huddersfield 10, Wigan 42 (SLR5, 1/3/20)
Huddersfield 22, Wigan 38 (SLR19, 21/6/19)
Wigan 6, Huddersfield 14 (SLR5, 8/3/19)
Huddersfield 6, Wigan 13 (SLS8-R6, 20/9/18)
Huddersfield 20, Wigan 12 (SLR21, 12/7/18)
Previous Challenge Cup meetings:

1956 (Quarter Final) Wigan 24 Huddersfield 2
1953 (Semi-Final) Huddersfield 7 Wigan 0(at Odsal Stadium, Bradford)
1951 (Quarter Final) Wigan 2 Huddersfield 0
1937 (Quarter Final) Huddersfield 7 Wigan 8
1928 (Round 1) Wigan 2 Huddersfield 13
1920 (FINAL) Huddersfield 21 Wigan 10(at Headingley, Leeds)
1915 (Semi-Final) Huddersfield 27 Wigan 2(at Parkside, Hunslet)
1913 (Quarter Final) Wigan 5 Huddersfield 14
1911 (Round 1) Wigan 18 Huddersfield 13
1909 (Quarter Final, Replay) Wigan 16 Huddersfield 3
1909 (Quarter Final) Huddersfield 10 Wigan 10
1904 (Round 1) Huddersfield 0 Wigan 7
Coach quotes

Speaking ahead of the Final, Peet said: “After the semi final it was a real high, a really proud moment and I felt like we’d achieved a big step, particularly winning in the way that we did. Since then, you know that it’s only going to be a good weekend if you get a quality result and performance. All attention turns to that now, we’re very proud and it was a goal at the start of the year to take the town to one of the big games.

“We’ve got to take that opportunity and play the game with no regrets. It was great to win a semi final, but it’ll be awful if we lose a final.”

Read more from the Warriors boss ahead of Saturday’s game HERE.

Match officials

The man in the middle on Saturday afternoon will be James Child.

Ticket prices

Wigan fans will be based in the South Stand at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Please note it is reserved seating and you can select your own seat when purchasing tickets online.

Blocks 121, 123, 254 and 323 are available to buy in-Store.

Ticket prices for the game are as follows:

Category 1

Adults – £70
Category 2

Adults – £55
Concessions – £40
Under-18s – £30
Category 3

Adults – £45
Concessions – £25
Under-18s – £25
Category 4

Adults – £30
Concessions – £15
Under-18s – £15
Ambulant disabled and assistant tickets are also available.

How to buy

Tickets are available online HERE, over the phone on 0333 003 5935 and in-Store at Robin Park Arena (open 10am-4pm Monday-Saturday). Please note that the DW Stadium Ticket Office is not selling any tickets for the Final.

Tickets for the Final are available online via Ticketmaster and all tickets bought online and via telephone are subject to a £3 booking fee per transaction (NB this is per transaction and not per ticket). Tickets bought online will be digital tickets that will be issued this week.

Supporters will need a current email address when registering online or contacting the sales team at Ticketmaster to receive tickets.

Tickets will go off sale in-Store at 4pm on Thursday 26th May and will then go offline on Ticketmaster at 12pm on Friday 27th May.

Pay on the day

Tickets will be available to buy on the day of the game too from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Ticket Office – located in the North West Corner of the stadium bowl.

Stadium Guide

Provided by Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, please click HERE for the Stadium Guide.

How to follow

Watch Live


Saturday’s Challenge Cup Final will be shown live on BBC One. Coverage starts from 2pm with pre-match build up ahead of the 3pm kick off.

Listen Live

Listen to free audio commentary of Wigan Warriors v Huddersfield Giants from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the Betfred Challenge Cup Final.

Our regular commentary team of Joe Mills and Bilko (Andrew Rimmer) will bring you full commentary, with coverage starting 10 minutes before kick-off (2:50pm).

How to listen

Head to our Mixlr page by clicking HERE. Alternatively, you can simply use the pop out player below.

Wigan TV

Highlights and match reaction will be available on Wigan TV following the result. Not a subscriber? Find out more HERE.

Social Media

As an alternative to following the game, Wigan fans can keep up-to-date with every piece of the action via our social media channels and website,

Twitter (@WiganWarriorsRL) – live game updates and reaction at the final hooter.
Instagram (@wiganwarriorsrl) – behind-the-scenes action, both before and after kick off.
Facebook (Wigan Warriors) – live matchday information and reaction.
Website (www.wiganwarriors.com) – post-match reaction including match report, and Head Coach and players reaction.

https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/05/ ... cup-final/
Anyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
josie andrews
Posts: 35575
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:17 pm
Location: Wigan
Contact:

Re: Match Preview: Challenge Cup Final

Post by josie andrews »

Briers on Challenge Cup

Assistant Coach, Lee Briers, gives his thoughts on the Challenge Cup having won it numerous times as a player and a Coach.

Briers: “It’s not about us Coaches, it’s about the players making sure they go out and execute and express themselves on the biggest of stages.”

See the Warriors in action at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, tickets remain on sale online HERE until 3pm on Friday 27th May.

Lee Briers spoke to wiganwarriors.com to talk all things Challenge Cup, his experiences as a player and a Coach in the competition and more!

“As a player, the build-up was horrendous for me, I was a very nervous player,” he said. “I used to be sick ready for the game and I could never stop that whether I was playing against Wigan, whether I was playing against Swinton it didn’t matter I was always sick.”

He added: “The Semi Finals I thought was always the worst time, I’d lost 5 Semi Finals prior to 2009, so I was sick every single morning leading up to the Semi Final, I didn’t sleep more than a few hours a night and when we finally won and got through to the final I was thinking ‘wow, I’ve got to go through that again.’”

Briers explains that this all changed at Wembley in 2009, as he went on to win three Challenge Cups in 4-years: “When I was in the changing rooms at Wembley, it’s twenty-past two and I’m thinking right I’m ready to be sick, and I wasn’t, I wasn’t nervous. I thought ‘this is strange’, played the game and won it, unbelievable feeling to finally get that first win and it was one of the best feelings I’ve possibly ever had in the game.

“In 2009 my son was mascot, which was great for our family. It’s something that we hold dear to our hearts and have really good memories of that. We beat Huddersfield that year too so hopefully we can do that again. To do it 2010 and get the Lance Todd Trophy, again I wasn’t nervous at all. Fantastic, winning that Lance Todd, in my eyes one of the biggest man of the match awards you can win in Rugby League, especially in this Country.”

He added: “We did it again in 2012, and it was fabulous. I went 13-years losing Finals and Semi Finals and then within the space of three years I had a back-to-back at Wembley, missed a year and then won it again. It was like public buses I suppose, none come and then they all come at once.”

Looking back on why his nerves were different at Wembley, Briers explained: “I only ever realised when I finished playing Rugby and I reflected on my career. Why wasn’t I nervous at Wembley? Every time I’ve played with a Rugby ball since being 4-years old, any patch of grass where I lived in St Helens, it was always Wembley, we were trying to score that last try or drop goal to win at Wembley. Everything I did as a kid was always about being at Wembley, we didn’t have Grand Finals then.”

He added: “I’m a big believer in the 10,000 hour rule – if you do something 10,000 times you master it and I’d definitely done it 10,000 times. So without knowing at the time, I’d already in my mind been there, done it, visualised it and executed it. That’s why I wasn’t nervous and I’m pretty certain about that.”

Briers then reflected on how the Challenge Cup experience differs from being a player, to as a Coach: “It’s totally different. When you’re a player you’ve only really got to get yourself ready, as a Coach you make sure you’ve done all the preparation, you make sure you’ve practiced as well as you can do and we’ve got a really good Coaching group here. We’re all focused on one goal, it’s making sure that everything is clear, no confusion, the lads understand what it’s about, supporting them and giving them confidence.”

Asked if the passion for the Cup is still as big as a Coach, Briers said: “Absolutely – probably more so. It’s great to win it as a player and you probably can’t replicate that but winning it as a Coach when you’ve executed a game plan which you set out to do is something where you get real joy. It’s not about us Coaches, it’s about the players making sure they go out and execute and express themselves on the biggest of stages.”

https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/05/ ... lenge-cup/
Anyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
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