Challenge Cup Final: 21-man squads, injury update and TV details

St Helens and Castleford have both announced their 21-man squads for Saturday afternoon’s Challenge Cup Final at Wembley (KO 3:00pm).

Saints’ last trip to the stadium was in 2019, when they lost 18-4 to Warrington despite coming into the game as the bookies’ favourites.

Their last Cup Final win came 11 years earlier in 2008, when a 28-16 triumph over Hull FC saw them crowned competition champions for a third straight year.

The Tigers, meanwhile, haven’t tasted victory at Wembley since 1986, when heroics from the likes of Bob Beardmore, Tony Merchant and Jamie Sandy sealed a 15-14 win over Hull KR.

They’ve visited the capital twice since, losing 28-12 to Wigan in 1992 before a 23-10 defeat to local rivals Leeds in 2014.

The game will be available to watch live on BBC One, with coverage starting from 2:00pm.

St Helens

There’s just one change for Saints, with Sione Mata’utia’s suspension robbing him the opportunity to face his brother Peter at Wembley. He is replaced by halfback Theo Fages, who is restored to the side after missing last week’s win over Wakefield. Kristian Woolf remains without back rowers James Bentley (leg) and Jake Wingfield (shoulder) due to injury.

21-man squad: 1 Lachlan Coote, 2 Tom Makinson, 3 Kevin Naiqama, 4 Mark Percival, 5 Regan Grace, 6 Jonny Lomax, 7 Theo Fages, 8 Alex Walmsley, 9 James Roby, 10 Matty Lees, 11 Joel Thompson, 13 Morgan Knowles, 15 Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 16 Kyle Amor, 17 Agnatius Paasi, 18 Jack Welsby, 19 Aaron Smith, 20 Joe Batchelor, 21 Lewis Dodd, 22 Josh Simm, 25 Dan Norman.

Castleford Tigers

There’s a raft of changes for the Tigers, 12 to be precise, after Daryl Powell chose to rest several stars against Salford last week. Niall Evalds, Peter Mata’utia, Paul McShane and Adam Milner are among those returning, while Jake Trueman is back in contention for the first time since the semi-final win over Warrington last month after struggling with a back problem. Tyla Hepi and Greg Eden are two glaring omissions, while there’s no place for in-form youngster Brad Martin. Jacques O’Neill (hamstring) and Sosaia Feki (achilles) are unavailble through injury.

21-man squad: 1 Niall Evalds, 2 Derrell Olpherts, 3 Peter Mata’utia, 4 Michael Shenton, 6 Jake Trueman, 7 Danny Richardson, 8 Liam Watts, 9 Paul McShane, 10 Grant Millington, 11 Oliver Holmes, 12 Cheyse Blair, 13 Adam Milner, 14 Nathan Massey, 15 George Griffin, 17 Alex Foster, 20 James Clare, 21 Jesse Sene-Lefao, 22 Daniel Smith, 24 Suaia Matagi, 25 Jordan Turner, 31 Gareth O’Brien.