Hull KR

Since 2025, spitting allegations, Marc Sneyd, try controversy, and Warrington Wolves v Hull KR talking points

by
Sam Cook
June 8, 2025

Hull KR prevented a Warrington Wolves upset as they scored late to land a comeback win in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.

The Robins won 8-6 despite trailing for almost the entirety of the second-half with Josh Thewlis’ first-half score looking set to be the difference between the sides. That was until Tom Davies managed to ground the skidding ball in the 78th minute after a lengthy video referee review.

Davies certainly grounded the ball and grounded it cleanly but the question marks revolved around whether defender Arron Lindop had grounded the ball first, appearing to do so with his chest – something that BBC Sport pundit Jon Wilkin exclaimed cannot be done.

Only attacking players can ground the ball with their chest with defenders subject to different rules, as explained by Wilkin post-match, and that’s certain to be a talking point in a Challenge Cup Final packed with talking points.

We’ve looked through a number of them, starting with the last gasp try.

Warrington Wolves v Hull KR talking points

Try or no try?

After 77 minutes and 10 seconds, Tom Davies grounded the ball to score what he hoped would be the match-levelling try. As it turned out, he had with Liam Moore awarding it on-field before Jack Smith signed off on it in the video referee booth.

Tyrone May’s kick through appeared one more of desperation than any tactics but the rugby league ball bounces in funny ways, particularly when it’s rained. The ball skidded on and ended up underneath Warrington’s Arron Lindop who grounded the ball with his chest before it bounced up and was grounded by Tom Davies.

As explained by Jon Wilkin, defenders cannot ground the ball with their chest meaning the ball was still active. The ex-St Helens man noted post-match: “Well the ball cannot be grounded by a defensive player with their chest. It has to be an attacking player who can ground a ball with their chest in a genuine attempt to score a try.” As such, the try was given but it’s one that will be talked about for some time.

Are Challenge Cup Finals refereed differently?

On the subject of refereeing decisions, are Challenge Cup Finals or big games in general refereed differently? Based on a couple of decisions, especially in the first-half, you would argue yes with Liam Moore not flashing any cards.

That was despite high contact from both Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Joe Burgess. Mitigation of the attacking players slipping was certainly present in both cases but in standard Super League games we have seen sin bins, and even red cards for such acts.

No rugby league fans want to see such incidents punished with sin bins but it does beg the question of why one rule for a Super League game and another for a major final.

The Marc Sneyd final

In another world we are talking about the 2025 Challenge Cup Final as the Marc Sneyd final. He was exceptional throughout and everything good in terms of Warrington’s attack went through him.

Just some of the notable moments in the game included his incredible drop-out which he drilled 4o yards into touch, ensuring Wire had the ball approaching halfway instead of having to defend a new set. His high bomb that Joe Burgess spilled created the territory for the Thewlis try, before his deflected kick provided the assist.

Warrington led for almost all of the second-half with Sneyd’s calm and controlled nature helped them win the territory battle. He was a deserving Lance Todd Trophy, winning it for the third time (tied record with Sean Long), and a very undeserving loser.

Spitting allegations

Whatever the result of the game, it’s one that was marred with controversy as allegations of spitting were made by Warrington winger Josh Thewlis against Hull KR forward Sauaso Sue. The prop had knocked on with the Robins losing a captain’s challenge on the decision and whilst Sue certainly spat, whether it was at Thewlis or towards the ground was unclear.

Liam Moore confirmed that the incident was placed on report after double checking with Thewlis that he wanted to make the formal allegation. It will be among the top priorities for the Match Review Panel on Monday.

Hull KR end their trophy drought

There’s the old saying of having to lose one to win one, well Hull KR have lost quite a few with this current team losing two in the past two years but it was finally their day against Warrington.

That win under the Wembley arches ended a 40-year wait for silverware and gets a huge monkey off this club’s back. With the current crop of players and Willie Peters as head coach, you have to say that they are now a serious threat for silverware and not just a team having a purple patch of form.

Mikey Lewis again

He won Man of Steel last year and whilst the voting doesn’t favour him at the moment, you’d be hard pressed to name many better than him in Super League this year. Despite that, he was largely out of the picture against Warrington but he stepped up when needed.

His drop out from under the sticks emulated Sneyd’s from the first half and helped relieve Hull KR of some huge pressure at a time when another try would have killed the game off.

Then up came his crowing moment, the conversion. By no means the toughest of his career but for a player who has already missed three from 14 this season in Super League and doesn’t kick regularly anymore, it was a moment of huge pressure that he stepped up for.