Lee Radford has described the decision-making surrounding his team selection for the Challenge Cup final on Saturday as the toughest moment of his coaching career as the Hull coach and his Warrington counterpart, Tony Smith, confirmed on Monday that they have decided their teams for Wembley
Radford also spoke about the difficulty of being on the other side of a conversation he experienced during his playing career after being left out of Bradford’s squads for the 2000 and 2001 Challenge Cup finals.
“I’ve told the lads what the team will be,” Radford said. “It’s one of the most difficult conversations I’ve ever had to have with a player. I’ve been sat at the other end of that table twice and after that call is laid out to you, everything else the coach says is a blur.
“I found out a couple of interesting ways when I was left out, but I tried to be as straight and honest with them as I could be here. I told them individually and tried to give them my reasons why, but they pretty much fell on deaf ears as you’d expect.
“I hope I get another opportunity to select them in a final because I’ll sleep easier. It’s the toughest thing I’ve had to do in my coaching career and the toughest thing to be involved with. It’s been harder to deal with than some of the bad losses we’ve endured down the years.”
Radford has a fully fit squad after confirming that the prop Liam Watts will be available. Although Smith has one doubt in his squad – the forward Joe Westerman, who sustained an ankle injury during the win against Castleford on Saturday – he expects the 26-year-old to be passed fit.
“I’m getting close to the team now,” Smith said. “I’ve had some sleepless nights, but we’re not far off. The players will know tomorrow. We need to run the rule over Joe with his ankle problem, but my hunch is that he’ll make it although he won’t play if he’s not right.”
Radford also revealed that he would refer back to Hull’s defeat in the final three years ago as part of his preparation. He was on the coaching staff when Hull were beaten 16-0 by Wigan – the eighth time Hull have failed to win at Wembley – and the FC coach said it made sense to remind his squad of the pain associated with losing a final.
“If there were adverts for how not to tackle a Challenge Cup final, that was us back then,” Radford said. “It’s voted the worst final in the history of the competition and that was a dark day. It was the epitome of playing the occasion rather than the team, because they weren’t crash hot either.
“It just never happened for us and some of the lads who were involved in that can use that experience and feed off it.” The Hull coach added: “I’m certainly going to highlight it to a couple of the lads who weren’t involved, too.”
The Warrington forward George King has been charged by the Rugby Football League match-review panel with a grade A dangerous tackle during the win on Saturday, but is able to submit an early guilty plea and avoid any suspension, thereby making him available for the final on Saturday.
The RFL announced on Monday that Gareth Hewer will referee the Wembley final. The Cumbrian‑born official is not part of the RFL’s full‑time refereeing squad due to his work commitments at Sellafield power station. Ben Thaler, who officiated the Challenge Cup final and the Grand Final last year, will be the video referee.
“I’m usually really excited at this point in August about attending the final as a spectator or watching on television with friends,” Hewer said. “Now I’m the guy in the middle controlling the game. To be picked is an absolute honour.”
