Were you to have the briefest glance at the Super League table and the recent form of the Challenge Cup finalists, you would think the Wembley meeting of Hull KR and Warrington Wolves is going only one way.
Rovers have lost only once all year and are the standout side. Warrington, in contrast, sit eighth and to suggest they have been inconsistent under Sam Burgess would be putting it mildly. But a couple of things could redress the balance and make this an intriguing final.
First, history hangs heavy on the shoulders of Hull KR. Without a major trophy since 1985 and scarred by countless defeats in finals since then, including two in the past two seasons , you do wonder quite whether taking that most important step will come into the thinking of the Rovers players when they walk out at Wembley on Saturday.
Warrington, meanwhile, are armed with a man who not only knows how to win these games but excel in them. Marc Sneyd began the season as a Salford player but, when their financial problems deepened, Warrington acted swiftly to sign the scrum-half in March. It has proven to be a masterstroke, with his best performance in a Wire shirt coming in the semi-final against Leigh.
Incredibly, that display came days after he fractured an eye socket. Sneyd is one of five players to win the Lance Todd Trophy for man of the match in the final twice, back-to-back victories in 2016 and 2017. To add an extra layer of intrigue, those wins were for Hull FC, the arch-rivals of the side he is trying to stop from ending their trophy drought on Saturday.
“He’s an impressive guy,” Sam Burgess said of the scrum-half this week. “We saw what he did in the semi-finals. He’s a very composed bloke, nothing really flusters him and the bigger the stage, the more he seems to enjoy it.”
Already a legend on the west side of Hull, Sneyd could enrich this legacy further if he engineers a Warrington victory, bringing a first trophy to the Wolves since 2019.
“He beat me there in 2017,” says Sneyd’s half-back partner, George Williams. “He’s thrived on the big stage so many times, he’s won two Lance Todds and I’m hoping he gets a third because if he does it’ll mean a Warrington win. He’s been brilliant to play with.”
It would not be a stretch to suggest that with their title hopes looking remote at best in Super League, they are putting all their proverbial eggs in this basket. No decision epitomises that mentality more than the fact Williams, the England captain, will take the field less than eight weeks removed from ankle surgery that initially looked like ruling him out of the final.
It is undoubtedly a gamble and, as any league historian will tell you with the cases of Gavin Miller in 1986 and Keith Senior in 2005, those types of decisions in a Challenge Cup final can backfire. “There’s always an element of risk,” Burgess admitted on Monday. “But it’s not groundbreaking. We’ve pushed really hard to get him ready for this game. If there was no rush, maybe he wouldn’t play.”
Williams insisted this week he is fully fit; he will need to be for Warrington to stand a chance against a mightily impressive Hull KR side. Burgess, who has reiterated he will see his contract through to the end of next year after missing out on the Perth Bears job, is again within touching distance of his first trophy as a coach.
For all the talk of Rovers needing a trophy, there is perhaps a fair argument Burgess and Warrington need one just as much after defeat in last year’s cup final and falling short in the playoff semi-finals in Super League. “I think we’re bigger underdogs than last year because we were playing well last year,” Williams, who has lost two finals and is yet to win one, says. “Nobody is giving us a chance but we’re fine with that.
“This year has been different to last year. I thought it was easy last year but I’ve been challenged with a number of things this year and had to make some hard decisions. But I’ve still really enjoyed it. I’m contracted until the end of 2026 and I will finish my contract out here at Warrington.”
Burgess has already courted plenty of interest in Australia for the work he has done at Warrington in 18 months. Win this Saturday against all the odds and his stock will rise once again – on both sides of the world.
