Ryan Hall willing to pull out of Challenge Cup Final

Former Leeds Rhinos winger now Hull KR star Ryan Hall knows all there is to know about winning a Challenge Cup Final scoring twice against Castleford Tigers to win with Leeds in 2014.

That day he won the Lance Todd Trophy as Man of the Match for a mesmeric yet very unusual try as he powered over the top of Andrew Dixon.

A year lately, the man he will stand opposite against today against Leigh Leopards stole the show for Leeds scoring five tries.

Today, Hall gets a chance to win a third Challenge Cup but he missed out of the semi-final when a recurrence of a calf injury saw him pull out at the 11th hour.

The big call for today’s game was always whether or not he would feature and he does however he has promised to pull out if he again feels a twinge.

“In the semi-final against Wigan I was feeling great up until the warm-up and then in the warm-up I started to feel uncomfortable so I made the decision not to play,” he said.

“If that happens again today I will make the same decision again because we need the best and fittest players on the pitch.

“But yeah the team are ready, we are feeling confident and it’s great to be back here, playing in these big games.

“We’re hoping we can play like we did against Wigan in the semi and we’ll give ourselves a chance if lifting that trophy.”

It is mostly as you would expect but a big call is that veteran Joe Wardle has been left out of the side as 18th man.

Beyond that, it is as you would expect. Gareth O’Brien starts at fullback forming a spine with Ben Reynolds and Lachlan Lam in the halves with Edwin Ipape as the hooker.

John Asiata, after all that controversy, starts at 13. In the backs we see Josh Charnley and Tom Briscoe provide cup final experience on the wings as Zak Hardaker and Ed Chamberlain start in the centres.

Tom Amone, Rob Mulhern, Kai O’Donnell and Jack Hughes make up the pack.

On the bench, Adrian Lam has Joe Mellor, Oliver Holmes, Ben Nakubuwai and Matty Davis.

Meanwhile, for Hull KR there was also a question over where Mikey Lewis would play. Would he start on the bench, at fullback or would either of Schneider and Rowan Milnes be dropped?

That question has been answered with Willie Peters naming Lewis at fullback.

He has also risked Ryan Hall on the wing so there is no Louis Senior.

Jez Litten starts at nine ahead of Matt Parcell. Brad Schneider and Rowan Milnes of course start in the halves with Lewis at fullback.

Elliot Minchella is given the nod at loose forward as many expected. Shaun Kenny-Dowall will captain the side from centre with Tom Opacic on the other side.

Rhys Kennedy and George King start at prop with James Batchelor and Kane Linnett the pair of back rowers.

The bench is made up of Matty Storton, Dean Hadley and Sam Luckley.