
St Helens skipper Jonny Lomax loves the idea of giving back to community clubs but he has one concern about the upcoming Challenge Cup third round.
As part of a shake up to the Cup, Super League clubs have been drawn away to lower league sides in the third round of the competition. As such, 12 second winners will have the chance to host one of biggest names in the rugby league ladder, with Championship, League One and community clubs all involved.
The draw was made last week and St Helens are one of several Super League sides guaranteed to go to an amateur side with Hunslet ARLFC or West Hull playing this weekend for the right to host the 13-time Cup winners. Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC are the other two clubs who know they will be taking on a side from the amateur side of the game, while upsets elsewhere could lead to more top level sides making the journey to community clubs.
It’s a concept that has split opinion across the rugby league world with some being all for it, while others have shown concern for the safety of those amateur players going up against the professionals.
Lomax, though, just has his fingers crossed that the weather doesn’t take another turn for the worse.
“I think it’s good for the game and the grassroots game, at the end of the day that’s where everybody comes from who plays the game, whatever level it is, it’s the grassroots where it starts. So it’s good to help out and still be connected to that as well,” Lomax told Serious About RL.
👇 The Round 3 @Betfred #ChallengeCup draw! pic.twitter.com/q849lvDnmf
— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) January 14, 2025
“Personally I try to get down to my amateur club quite a bit but with the commitments you have to rugby and family life it does become difficult.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to work with the fixtures being away. I’ve played at West Hull twice when I was playing at Orrell St James so I know what it’s like, but it’s more what the pitches are going to be like if we have another snowstorm.
“You’d like to hope things can go ahead the way its planned and intended to but what I do know about late January and early February is it’s very unpredictable and it causes issues for the best of pitches and the best of stadiums so hopefully it either warms up or dries up.”
