After beating Wigan Warriors and St Helens, Hull KR and Leigh Leopards are headed to Wembley as the Robins look to wash the bad taste out of their mouth after they lost 50-0 at Wembley to Leeds Rhinos.
They are chasing a first Challenge Cup since the 1980s whilst Leigh are chasing a first one since 1971 after they defeated Leeds.
It is a great story for Leigh who were in the Championship a year ago. Leigh have totally rebranded and have put a lot of investment into the club so it should really be a positive story but their semi-final win was overshadowed by the comments of Paul Wellens as he slammed the decision from the RFL Match Review Panel to not give a ban to John Asiata after he injured four St Helens players with low tackles.
Wellens even said Agnatius Paasi had his knee “blown to smithereens” by the tackle.
Now Asiata has had his say on the situation.
“What has happened, I feel bad for all of the players [who were injured], but I think what has happened has also made me stronger as a person and just believing in what I do,” he said to Sky Sports.
“The way I compete in rugby league, I give my all. I don’t go out there and do 50-50 things. If go out there and I injure myself, I injure myself because I’m giving everything I got. I told the boys I’d do everything it takes for my team to make sure we get the victory.
“That means I don’t go out there to do anything to hurt someone. It’s a tough sport, things happen quickly, it’s very physical and it’s probably the most physical sport around the world.”
He also admitted that it was hard for his family with some comments made about him:
“It was more tough for my family because I don’t like them seeing things being said about me, and that’s probably the hardest part because I can’t control their emotions or anything going on in their heads.”
Asiata will now have the chance to lead Leigh out at Wembley in a Challenge Cup Final making history as he does as Leigh chase Derek Beaumont dream.
