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John Ledger: Glorious unpredictability restores Cup magic as Wembley looms
IT says much about the new face of Super League that neither St Helens, Leeds, Wigan nor Bradford are involved in this weekend's televised Carnegie Challenge Cup quarter-finals - and the tournament is so much the richer because of it.
The Bulls and Rhinos are already out, of course, victims of Catalans Dragons and St Helens, who should have a relatively comfortable passage into the semi-finals with a tie at lowly Gateshead Thunder tomorrow night.
Saints remain the team to beat – the holders have not lost a Challenge Cup tie since Hull beat them in the semi-finals four years ago – but the competition is becoming increasingly cut-throat as the Super League table testifies.
Even though it is difficult not to share the view that playing standards have dropped this season following the increase to 14 clubs, there is at least more uncertainty of outcome than there has been in recent years.
That is no bad thing, especially for the fans and BBC television viewers who will take in Hull Kingston Rovers v Warrington Wolves tomorrow and Huddersfield Giants v Castleford Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
All four clubs will approach their quarter-final on the back of some promising form, even Castleford, who have been singularly unlucky in losing their last three matches and who are long overdue a change in fortune.
The form team is undoubtedly Hull KR who, despite struggling to produce their best for sustained spells, have developed the much-craved winning habit demanded of any side with genuine ambitions.
Rovers have lost just two of their last 10 matches, deliciously against fellow quarter-finalists Huddersfield and tomorrow's opponents Warrington, who will head for Craven Park with their confidence buoyed by a 16-8 win against Wigan last Friday.
Hull KR have not reached the Challenge Cup final for 23 years and a return to Wembley is long overdue for a club which has spent much of the last two decades fighting fires it invariably started itself.
The team that beat them back in 1986 were Castleford, who last played at Wembley in 1992, when they lost to Wigan, but for all their rich promise so far this season, the Tigers will have to pull something special out of the bag if they are to reach the final in August.
The biggest threat to St Helens could come not from Wigan, who will have it tough at home to Salford City Reds tonight, but from Huddersfield Giants, who have yet to be given the recognition their potential merits.
Some of that is down to the frustrating inconsistency they have shown, most recently with a miserable home performance in defeat by Salford two weeks ago and at Knowsley Road in February, when too many of their players seemed to lack the belief needed to beat St Helens.
However, in coach Nathan Brown the Giants have a canny tactician who has the wherewithal to harness the considerable talent at his disposal, as he demonstrated at Wakefield last Sunday when Huddersfield blew Wakefield away with a whirlwind second half performance.
As bad as Wakefield undoubtedly were – and rare have been the occasions when the Wildcats have delivered such a spineless display – credit should be given to Huddersfield for the way in which they made light of the absence of their best player, Brett Hodgson.
The Australian full-back is expected to have recovered from a thigh injury by Sunday and Castleford's Challenge Cup ambitions are likely to rest on how successful they are in negating the danger of a player whose threat comes not just from his own considerable talent but from his ability to bring out the best in those around him.
Should Huddersfield win and avoid St Helens in the semi-final draw to go within 80 minutes of a first Wembley appearance since 1962, Hodgson could be the man to mastermind the Giants' bid to avenge their 42-12 defeat by Saints in the 2006 final at Twickenham.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
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