The Challenge Cup fourth round draw was conducted last night, and there were some interesting match-ups pulled out of the hat.
The road to Wembley continues on the weekend of March 14/15, as the 16 clubs still in the competition look to progress through to the quarter finals and take another step forward towards Cup glory.
Of the remaining sides, 13 of them hail from Super League, after each club avoided any slip-ups in the Third round when facing lower league opposition.
The final three come from the Championship, as Goole Vikings, Keighley Cougars and Oldham RLFC remain in the running, but they each face tough tests in the next round when they go up against their top flight counterparts.
After assessing the draw, Serious About RL have picked out some winners and losers, as we evaluate who has been fortunate and unfortunate with their fixture pairing.
For the full list of Challenge Cup fourth round ties, click here.
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Challenge Cup Fourth Round draw winners and losers
Winner: Goole Vikings
Now, obviously a game against Warrington Wolves is something that they’d rather have avoided, given they want to progress as far as they can, but Goole will still see this game as a huge win.
As we have seen with many other Championship clubs this year, the financial gain of playing a Super League team in the Cup is lucrative, and will do the Vikings a world of good off-the-field.
Scott Taylor’s side have been drawn at home, so they have the decision to choose whether they keep the fixture at the Victoria Pleasure Ground, or move it elsewhere.
Regardless, the off-field gain that will be made from this tie far outweighs any result, and if Goole could pull off a shock win, it would undoubtedly be one of the biggest upsets in Challenge Cup history.
Loser: Huddersfield Giants
Cup ties don’t get much harder than when you have to face the defending Champions, and Luke Robinson’s side will have to topple the 2025 Wembley winners if they want any sort of cup run themselves.
The Giants will have wanted some sort of strong cup run this season, given that the league is so competitive and the likelihood is they will miss out on play-offs, so the Challenge Cup is their only realistic chance of winning a trophy.
Of course, there is nothing to say that Huddersfield can’t earn a victory over the Robins, they beat the East Hull outfit in the 2022 semi-final before losing out to Wigan Warriors at Tottenham.
Winner: Catalans Dragons
Another team who are in the middle-part of the table where it is near impossible to predict, Catalans boss Joel Tomkins has stated that play-offs is his club’s target this year, but les Dracs will no doubt have one eye on the Cup, too.
The 2018 winners will look to return to Wembley for the first time since that triumph, and after reaching the semi-finals last year, they have landed a home tie against Oldham, one of the three remaining Championship sides.
The Perpignan outfit will be looking at that draw and will be quite pleased with the result, and will be hoping to avoid any sort of dramatic upset that could send them crashing out of the competition.
Loser: Bradford Bulls
The five-time Challenge Cup winners will have to travel to their old rivals in the fourth round, a tie that is soaked in history.
Whilst 20 years ago this tie would have been two heavyweights going at it early in the competition, Bradford being back in Super League for the first time highlights the current disparity between the two clubs, and Bradford would have been looking for a more favourable draw.
The Bulls won’t be ones to sulk and feel sorry for themselves, though. A chance of silverware is at stake and Kurt Haggerty’s side will be doing all they can to try and topple the 21-time Challenge Cup winners.
Winner: York Knights
From one promoted side getting an extremely difficult draw, York Knights will be more than happy with their fourth round fixture, as they take on Championship side Keighley Cougars.
The Cougars will be no walk-over by any means, but given that the Knights will, barring any huge shock, be out of the play-off picture, a Challenge Cup run, however long it lasts, will be a huge positive in their first season in the top flight.
York have beaten Keighley in four of the last five meetings, with their most recent meeting being a 72-12 victory in the Cup last year, a result they will be hoping is similar this time around.
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