Hull FC v Castleford Tigers: Drama of Anfield leaves Ellis relishing a magical Cup run

Hull FC captain Gareth Ellis holds the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup trophy aloft as his side defeat Wigan.

Granted, with the best will in the world no one for one minute is suggesting there will be as much mind-boggling drama, suspense and intrigue at the KCOM Stadium tonight for the Black and Whites’ sixth-round tie with Castleford Tigers as there was during those remarkable, dizzying events at Anfield and in Amsterdam.

However, for veteran forward Ellis it is all just a timely reminder of one of the reasons why he came out of retirement earlier this season.

“I’m not as big a fan of football as I used to be and I do struggle to watch games now,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“But these last couple of nights they have been absolutely phenomenal.

“No one who loves sport could not have enjoyed that – unless you were a Barcelona or Ajax fan – going into such drama with Spurs winning in the ‘96th’ minute and Liverpool beating Barcelona four-nil the night before.

“It is the old magic of the cup feeling and so many players don’t ever get to experience anything like that.

“Those moments are few and far between and, for us in rugby league, everyone heading out into the Challenge Cup this weekend will look to create their own.

“There’s a lot of talk about the Bradford/Leeds game on Saturday, especially after what happened at Rhinos this week (coach Dave Furner getting sacked, and us at Hull are keen to get going again against Castleford.

“The Challenge Cup is something to look forward. It is a breakaway from the pressures of Super League and the two points that are so vitally important for all teams in there.

“It’s a breath of fresh air entering into a new comp’.

“Obviously the last time I did compete in a Challenge Cup game was the 2017 final, lifting the Cup at Wembley, and I thought that was the last of me with this great competition. So it’s nice to know I’m starting on the old Challenge Cup journey again on Friday night.”

Ellis, of course, enshrined himself in Hull FC folklore as he captained the club to their first win at Wembley in 2016 before retaining the Cup the following year.

They beat Castleford – Ellis’s hometown club – at the quarter-final stage in 2017.

But the former Great Britain star knows how difficult Daryl Powell’s side will be to overcome this evening.

“They are in a similar boat to ourselves – and like a lot of other teams this year – in that they’ve had a lot of injuries, which has  had a massive impact on performance and results,” Ellis said.

“Paul McShane is a big loss for them, but they have a few back this week and have been one of the best teams for the last four or five years.

“I’m sure they themselves will be wanting to have a good Cup run to maybe spark things up for the second half of the season.”

Castleford – who have not lifted the Cup since 1986 – won on their last visit to the KCOM Stadium when they prospered 26-18 in February while Hull also suffered a heavy 37-6 home defeat to Catalans Dragons last Friday.

However, Lee Radford’s side welcome back prolific Marc Sneyd – the Lance Todd Trophy winner in both the Wembley triumphs – and fellow half-back Albert Kelly for tonight’s game after they rested minor injuries against the French club.

Hull would have gone third with a win, but slipped to fifth with Catalans moving fourth on points difference.

Ellis, 38, admitted: “It is massive for us having those two players back.

“That’s no excuse for what happened against Catalans – it was a very poor and flat performance and we missed a massive opportunity to put a bit of a gap between us and them.

“But it does just show how important those players are to us and how integral they are to the way we play.

“We need their control and patience in those sorts of games and we’ll need that against Cas.”

Winger Ratu Naulago, who scored for the British Army against the Royal Navy at Twickenham on Sunday, also returns for Hull.

Loose forward Dean Hadley and England Academy captain Cameron Scott are back in contention as well.

Castleford make four changes with James Clare, Jesse Sene-Lefao, Matt Cook and Jordan Rankin all back from injury.