Leeds v Salford: Squads Announced for Challenge Cup Final

Leeds and Salford have both announced their 21-man squads for Saturday’s Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium (KO 3:00pm).

The Rhinos go into the game in search of their 14th Challenge Cup trophy, with their last coming in 2015.

It’s been a silverware-less few years for the eight-time league champions, with their last major trophy coming in 2017 after over a decade of domination in Super League.

For the Red Devils, meanwhile, Saturday is only their second appearance in a major final in over 40 years.

Their last Challenge Cup Final appearance came in 1969, while their sole victory in the competition was in 1938.

Leeds Rhinos

The Rhinos name their strongest squad possible, with injured duo Harry Newman and Stevie Ward the only notable omissions, while Bodene Thompson is Cup-tied. Jack Walker, Adam Cuthbertson, Cameron Smith, Luke Briscoe and Tom Holroyd all played against Warrington in mid-week, with at least one set to back up just four days after.

21-man squad: 1 Jack Walker, 2 Tom Briscoe, 4 Konrad Hurrell, 5 Ash Handley, 6 Rob Lui, 7 Luke Gale, 8 Ava Seumanufagai, 9 Kruise Leeming, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Alex Mellor, 12 Rhyse Martin, 14 Brad Dwyer, 15 Liam Sutcliffe, 16 Richie Myler, 17 Adam Cuthbertson, 19 Mikolaj Oledzki, 22 Cameron Smith, 24 Luke Briscoe, 25 James Donaldson, 26 Alex Sutcliffe, 28 Tom Holroyd.

Salford Red Devils

Star fullback Niall Evalds is the big inclusion for Ian Watson, after being out for over a month with a calf problem. He is one of several players called back into the squad, which includes Lee Mossop and Mark Flanagan, who were both cleared to play after returning inconclusive Covid-19 tests at the start of the week. Dan Sarginson and Jack Ormondroyd are both unavailable after testing positive for coronavirus earlier this week.

21-man squad: 1 Niall Evalds, 3 Kris Welham, 5 Krisnan Inu, 6 Tui Lolohea, 7 Kevin Brown, 8 Lee Mossop, 9 Joey Lussick, 10 Gil Dudson, 11 Ryan Lannon, 12 Pauli Pauli, 13 Tyrone McCarthy, 14 Sebastine Ikahihifo, 16 Greg Burke, 17 Luke Yates, 18 Chris Atkin, 19 Mark Flanagan, 21 James Greenwood, 22 Rhys Williams, 24 Elliot Kear, 29 Oliver Roberts, 32 Kallum Watkins.