Featherstone looking to put pain of Saints behind them, says Finn

Finn was part of the Rovers side that fell to a 70-0 defeat at St Helens in last season’s competition and the Irish international believes victory against the Conference League side will be the first step to help put the pain of that defeat to one side.

“Personally, I love playing in the cup,” said Finn. “It’s still the top competition in the country and every club dreams of winning it and that’s what makes it so tough.

“Last season we lost to St Helens and they taught us a lot of lessons.

“As a side we want to make up for that result and put another good cup run together this year.”

Featherstone have a proud tradition in the Cup, having lifted the famous trophy aloft on three occasions, but having last made an appearance in the final in 1983, Finn knows how important a good cup run will be to the fans.

“It’s always good to play in a different competition with a different focus and it’s a different type of challenge for us when it comes to the cup,” said Finn.

Myton Warriors secretary Des Fox says the club’s players were “dancing round the room” when they drew 1987 Challenge Cup winners Halifax.

Myton are one of the form amateur teams at present having won their opening two National Conference Premier League matches, and are relishing taking on heavyweights Fax.

“We talked before about whether we would want one of the lower teams or one of the big three – Leigh, Halifax or Fev,” Fox said. “When it came out of the hat I was in a meeting with the coaches, and you could hear the lads were over the moon, dancing around the changing room.

Elsewhere, Conference side York Acorn face a tough trip to Gateshead Thunder.