For the purists, there is the comfort that come 5pm Saturday, the 116th instalment of the Challenge Cup final will have gone some way to laying the demons of four years ago to rest.
When Hull and Wigan met under the Wembley arches in 2013, amid a backdrop of thunderous bank holiday rain, Wigan ground out a 16-0 victory which ranks as the most underwhelming rugby league final since the stadium reopened a decade ago. Thankfully this weekend promises to be different: and not only in terms of the weather forecast.
For both sides, there is history waiting to be made. Hull are looking to retain the trophy; while Wigan are aiming to extend their record in the cup. It is perhaps easy to suggest the pressure is off Lee Radford’s Hull side after they ended a century-long jinx of having never won at Wembley last year. Now for the Black and Whites, there is an opportunity to step into the unknown once again.
“We’ve got a chance to do what no other Hull FC team have done and go out and retain the cup,” says the prop Scott Taylor, a winner with Hull against Warrington last year and with Wigan – against Hull – in 2013. “That brings pressure I guess because there’s the prospect of going down as one of the best Hull teams in history. That’s what we want to go there and do.”
Hull have flirted with being one of rugby league’s major forces throughout the Super League era but there is a growing feeling that should they win consecutive Challenge Cups, it would rubber-stamp them in the sport’s elite bracket.
“This group now have the chance to do something no Hull side has done before,” says the Hull captain, Gareth Ellis. “That excites me, even in the final few weeks of my career. Wembley is a big part of that. To retain the Challenge Cup would be a massive deal for this club and it’s not lost on any of us. I just think we’re going into it more confident after last season.”
Saturday will be Ellis’s final appearance at Wembley as he prepares for retirement at the end of the season – and he is one of two talismanic captains in Saturday’s final. The other, Wigan’s Sean O’Loughlin, is eager to end the club’s four-year wait for another Challenge Cup.
“He’s been a legend of the game, what else can you say?” O’Loughlin said of Ellis. “But things have been dry for us in this competition in recent years and we are looking to put that right. The Grand Final wins have been good but everyone in Wigan talks about the Challenge Cup everywhere you go.”
To put into context how the Challenge Cup is still instantly associated with Wigan by many, while the holders are aiming to win the cup for a fifth time, the Warriors are within 80 minutes of lifting the sport’s most famous trophy for a 20th occasion. The next nearest side? Leeds, with 13 wins.
“It means a lot to the area,” says the Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins. “For many years it was seen as Wigan’s trophy and the club is synonymous with success in the cup. You’re expected to win big games and finals, and up until 2010 we’d been in a bit of a drought when it came to winning trophies. Wigan expects when it comes to the cup.”
Tomkins is one of only five Wigan players from four years ago who will feature on Saturday – and one of those, Taylor, will be playing for Hull. But while the lineups of both sides have changed, there is still a distinctly local feel to both teams.
Fewer than a third of the 34 players on show at Wembley will be from overseas – with a large contingent of homegrown talent involved to boot. “Wigan is still a hotbed for talent,” O’Loughlin says, “and as captain, to see so many local players in a cup final team is very encouraging.”
It is almost certain the rain-soaked events of four years ago will be consigned to history . But whether it is Hull or Wigan players climbing the 107 steps to the Royal Box, all the odds point to one of this competition’s most intriguing finals in years.
Hull FC: Shaul; Fonua, Griffin, Tuimavave, Talanoa; Kelly, Sneyd; Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Manu, Minichiello, Ellis. Interchange: Connor, Green, Bowden, Washbrook.
Wigan: Tomkins; Davies, Gelling, Gildart, Burgess; Williams, Leuluai; Nuuausala, McIlorum, Clubb, Bateman, Farrell, O’Loughlin. Interchange: Powell, Tautai, Sutton, Isa.
Referee P Bentham (Warrington).
