Talks have begun over next year’s Challenge Cup format after Super League clubs’ entry into the competition proved a surprise success.
The 12 top-flight sides joined in round three last weekend, after an all-community opening phase was followed by Betfred Championship and League One clubs becoming involved in round two. Super League teams were all seeded to be drawn away to lower division opponents in an attempt to generate more interest in the Challenge Cup, which has been in decline for several years.
The draw saw three amateur clubs handed Super League ties, but predictions of record scorelines and fears for players’ safety proved unfounded. York Acorn scored an equalising try against Hull FC before slipping to a creditable 52-6 defeat, while fellow National Conference outfit West Hull restricted St Helens to a 38-0 scoreline.
Both those ties were played on neutral ground, with a crowd estimated at more than 4,000 turning up at Hull KR’s Craven Park for the West Hull match. That led to officials opening the gates to reduce crowd congestion outside and West Hull have appealed for fans who got in for nothing to donate their entrance fee back to the amateur club.
Leeds Rhinos ran up the biggest score, beating Southern Conference Wests Warriors 92-0 in front of a summer era record low crowd of just 1,310, in a tie switched to AMT Headingley. But both sets of players mingled for a drink in the home changing room after the match and the visitors – who were presented with a framed Leeds jersey – hailed it as the “experience of a lifetime” after Rhinos coach Brad Arthur praised their sporting approach to the game.
Elsewhere, there was just one shock, when Championship Bradford Bulls beat Super League Castleford Tigers, but well above average crowds at York Knights, where Hull KR were the visitors, Workington Town (against Leigh Leopards), Whitehaven (v Warrington Wolves) and Midlands Hurricanes (at home to Salford Red Devils) justified the seeding experiment.
The RFL are now canvassing clubs for their views on the format and it could be retained next year, after initial suggestions it would be scrapped. RL Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones hailed it as “a great weekend”.
He said: “A number of Championship and League One clubs have set significant attendance milestones, from York Knights to Midlands Hurricanes and the four community clubs [including Ince Rose Bridge, beaten 68-0 at Featherstone Rovers] who earned places in the third round and a shot against professional opposition all seem to have relished the experience.”
Jones insisted: “The Super League clubs deserve huge credit for the way their players, supporters and staff have embraced the new format. The post-match images of Leigh Leopards and Workington Town players together on Friday night, or of Wests Warriors being invited into the Leeds Rhinos dressing room at AMT Headingley sum up the mood of the weekend – of the various levels of the sport coming together.
“That can only be a boost as we look ahead to the start of the Betfred Super League and Championship campaigns in the coming week, and further ahead to the later rounds of the Betfred Challenge Cup, and Finals Day at Wembley in June.”
🏆 Round Three of the @Betfred #ChallengeCup ✅ pic.twitter.com/ezhpr2s8NW
— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) February 9, 2025
