Huddersfield Giants: Challenge Cup Final’s latest ‘big day out’ one to remember, despite wrong result - Peter Smith

A clash with football’s play-off finals – the League Two promotion decider between Port Vale and Mansfield Town took precedence – led to a one-off switch across north London from Wembley to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It may not be quite as straightforward to get to from the north of England, but the White Hart Lane venue proved more than up to the job and it will be a surprise if it doesn’t host more big rugby league games in the future.

While Wernbley will remain the final’s spiritual home, a 90,000-seat stadium is too big for the number of people currently willing to attend the sport’s annual day out.

Tottenham is two-thirds the size of the national stadium and, with 50,000 people inside, the empty seats were less noticeable and the atmosphere significantly better.

A May Cup decider brings better balance to the season, with five months between the knockout competition and Super League showpiece rather than a few weeks, but it seems it will take more than that to revive flagging interest.

There are too many ‘days out’ in the current calendar, with Magic Weekend looming in July, plus up to three trips to France, Old Trafford and, this season, an autumn World Cup.

Particularly during a cost of living crisis, supporters have to pick and choose and the days when the entire sport came together for a weekend in the capital seem to be over.

The fact one of Super League’s less well-supported teams reached the final didn’t help. The Huddersfield fans who do turn up to matches are as vociferous as any, but there’s not enough of them.

The side coach Ian Watson is building deserve to be watched by full houses, home and away and they contributed fully to a superb game, which Giants can count themselves unfortunate to lose.

It was a tremendous spectacle for those in the stadium and also the armchair viewers who were treated to a thriller which was settled by a try three minutes from time.

Wigan will be happy enough to have the Cup in their trophy cabinet for the first time since 2013, but their half-back Harry Smith was robbed of the Lance Todd trophy.

Archaically, voting takes place before the end of the game. The RFL left it later than usual, but Giants were leading when the media were polled and had voting taken place after 80 minutes Smith, who scored one try and created the winner, would probably have won.

A change to that system would benefit the award hugely, though Giants forward Chris McQueen, who took home the consolation prize, did have a very good game.

The Challenge Cup was the main attraction in a double-header which also included the 1895 Cup final, sponsored by AB Sundecks. Both that firm and Leigh Centurions are owned by Derek Beaumont, who – had he fancied it – could have presented the trophy to himself, after holders Featherstone Rovers were surprisingly well beaten, 30-16.

Those two sides are streets ahead of their rivals in the Championship and will almost certainly meet again in the million pound match to decide who is promoted into next season’s Super League.

That’s what matters most and, providing Rovers learn valuable lessons, it remains well within their reach.

Leigh were comfortably the better team in the second period, but the scores were level at the break and it wouldn’t have been a shock if they had remained that way at full-time.

In which case, with limited time between the two games, the trophy would have been shared.

The 1895 Cup has potential, but the RFL have to consider if they really want to drag fans 200 miles to watch a competition which, potentially, could end without a winner.