The 1895 Cup Final is now in serious doubt, with Widnes Vikings threatening to pull out of the competition.
The Vikings are set to take on London Broncos in the final, and it will take place at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium on August 31.
However, due to concerns over the schedule, Widnes have said they may pull out of the final altogether, should they not receive a full week to prepare.
As it stands, Widnes, who are fourth in the Championship, will play Workington Town on Sunday 23rd August, in the penultimate game of the Championship season before the play-offs.
The week later, they were due to play Sheffield Eagles in the final game of the campaign, but their advancement through to the 1895 Cup Final means that game needs to be rescheduled.
Originally, it was due to take place during the week of August 10th, but because Oldham RLFC have now moved their game with Sheffield from the Friday to the Sunday, it leaves not enough room for a game to be played.
As a result, the RFL are demanding that Widnes play the game on the 27th August, meaning they would have three days in between then and the final. Opponents London, meanwhile, have been allowed to move their final round game to after the Final, meaning they get a full week to recover and prepare.
Widnes chairman Stuart Murphy labelled the decision as “absolutely outrageous,” and revealed multiple meetings between the club and the RFL to try and resolve the situation.
He said on The Forge Podcast: “Don’t get me started on it… I can tell you that, in the last week and a half, we’ve had seven meetings that have now actually had to involve active members of the exec board from the RFL, regulatory and RL Commercial.”
“…Meetings have gone back and forth, back and forth, and even after the RFL council meeting, we then had to meet again. It’s now been decided that [an announcement] will hold for two weeks until August 3, because by August 3, we should know where we sit in the league.”
He later added: “As it stands now, [London] will play on August 23, and they don’t have another game until they play us on the 31st, and then they will play the rearranged fixture the following week. They’ve got what, nine clear days, 10 clear days to do that.
“As it stands at the minute, we would play Workington on the 23rd, Sheffield on the 27th and the 1895 Cup Final on the 31st, and that is 100% not acceptable.
“It’s not acceptable in terms of player welfare. It’s not acceptable in terms of player registrations or anything else. I cannot tell you how much kickoff there has been about this.”
Murphy revealed that, should the Sheffield game remain on the 27th, they will be forced to either withdraw from the final or throw the game against Sheffield, putting out a weakened side in order to keep their key players fit for the final.
“It’s not happening,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, we have thrown our threats out there and they’re not idle threats. If the league ends up more important to us, we won’t play the final.
“We’ve thrown it the other way, if the league, it ends up that you can’t change position in the league, then we’ll just field whatever strength side we need to for Sheffield to make sure that we’ve got a competitive squad for the 1895 Cup.
Shock St Helens loss, Leigh to beat Wigan and bottom of the table scrap – Click here to watch the Serious About Rugby League Predictions Show!
