Leigh Leopards forward talks facing his former side on his hunt for Challenge Cup glory

Leigh Leopards forward Jack Hughes is no stranger to lifting the Challenge Cup trophy, but knows it’ll be a tough ask against his former side.

The Leopards face Warrington Wolves on Sunday afternoon, a club where Hughes spent seven seasons before joining Leigh.

He was a member of both sides in their last victories at Wembley, where he was captain at Warrington in 2019 and in his first season with Leigh in 2023.

It’s a competition that Hughes is passionate about and his side are more than ready to face everything that their Wolves are going to throw their way.

Speaking on the RFL’s website, he said: “We’ve mentioned the magic of the Cup and what it’s like to get there and experience it.

“The new boys will have probably seen social media clips now and videos from that year, and from previous years that we used back in 2023 as well.

“They have a good understanding of it, and they’ll be buying into it come this weekend.”

The Leopards are definitely the in-form team coming into the fixture, having won their last five games across the league and Cup, but Hughes knows that anything can happen in a semi-final.

He added: “The mood’s buzzing in camp. These kinds of weeks, the intensity always goes up a notch.

“Naturally, you don’t have to mention that or bring that up and try and force it. It just happens, and you can really feel it when training.”

Leigh Leopards are in a transitional season, having lost a few players following the close of the 2024 season, but with eleven players still remaining in the squad since that 2023 victory, Hughes believes that they’re starting to build some momentum.

He said: “We’ve lost some key players in this squad in the past 12 months, but that connection, that closeness and that tightness hasn’t dropped off.

“We’ve managed to maintain it, and new faces have come in. It’s taken a bit of time, but we’re in a good spot right now, and we’re pretty close, and that’s what you need in those big games.”

The Leigh Leopards forward missed last weekend’s game at Magic Weekend through injury but is excited to get back in front of their bumper travelling support at the Totally QWicked Stadium.

He finished: “Our fans are massive for us too – they’re absolutely massive for us as players.

“If we can bring it to St Helens, then that’s going to give us everything we need to give ourselves a good shot at getting one over on Warrington.”