New Challenge Cup format to be reviewed as amateur teams prepare to face giants
Three clubs from the community game face daunting tasks against top-flight sides on Saturday.
Rugby league chiefs have defended the right of amateur clubs to aspire to take on Super League opposition in the Betfred Challenge Cup but conceded this season’s revamped format has been far from perfect.
Three clubs from the community game face daunting tasks against top-flight sides on Saturday with West Hull playing St Helens, York Acorn taking on Hull, and London-based Wests Warriors travelling to Headingley to face Leeds in round three.
All three games have been switched from the amateur teams’ home grounds due to RFL regulations, squashing any prospect of a spectacle and instead raising the probability of triple-figure scores and possibly record-breaking defeats.
It contrasted sharply with the previous iteration, in which top-flight clubs joined in round five alongside only four remaining non-Super League survivors, and RL Commercial’s managing director Rhodri Jones said a review is already under way to establish the ideal balance moving forward.
Jones told the PA news agency: “What we’ve tried to do is bring a little bit of the romance of the FA Cup, of which Tamworth versus Tottenham is the most recent example, albeit in a rugby league context it is different because it is such a physical game.
“There have been some successes in the format but it’s perhaps not been the perfect solution, so we’ll look at the format and we’ll review it. That said, I do believe the Super League clubs will be respectful of the community teams.
Wests, who play in the Southern Conference League alongside the likes of Brentwood Eels and Hammersmith Hills Hoists, were originally drawn to host the Rhinos but with their own ground at Acton not up to standard, Leeds stepped in with an offer to switch the game which included an offer to put the Wests squad up for two nights at their Lodge Hotel.
Both Leeds and Saints have indicated they expect to field near full-strength sides for their respective matches, and the games have received the enthusiastic backing of both Saints full-back Jack Welsby and new Hull recruit Aidan Sezer.
Welsby, who started his career at junior levels with local clubs Blackbrook and Shevington, told PA: “It’s what the game is all about, playing against the sorts of teams that I played for, all with a proud, rich history, and I’m excited to go there.
Hull’s clash with Acorn will mark the Black-and-White debut of former Leeds half-back Sezer, who has returned to Super League this season after a brief spell back in Australia with Wests Tigers.
“It’s just about approaching the game the same that you would any other,” said Sezer. “We’re professionals and we get paid to play rugby league. I think it’s good for the Challenge Cup to play against amateur clubs and I think it is probably a very exciting thing for them.”
