Lee Crooks: Relishing silver anniversary of one of best finals in history

IT was quite ironic I ended up finishing my playing days at Castleford.

While at Hull, they were the side we regularly met in cup semis and we always won.

We beat Cas in 1982, '83 and '85 to reach Wembley and, conversely, when I joined Cas we actually defeated Hull to get to the final in 1992.

I suppose it is that '85 year that everyone remembers most. In the first game, Cas had us on the rack but we managed to get a draw when I converted John Muggleton's try to level the scores at 10 apiece.

In the replay, though, there was so much that happened – the famous incident with Malcolm (Reilly) just before half-time at the back of the posts, the brawl and Gary Kemble getting carried off after a high tackle, which probably spurred us on a little more.

It was a memorable 22-16 win and then we went on to face Wigan in what is well recognised as one of the best finals in the entire history of the competition.

It's the 25th anniversary this year and I've had my invite from the RFL to go along to Wembley for a reunion at the final later this month.

It'll be nice to meet up with all that squad that played in '85 again and some of the Wigan boys, too.

It will bring back a lot of pleasurable memories for them and, no doubt, a fair bit of heartache again for us but I'm looking forward to it.

As for when Cas beat Hull to meet Wigan in '92, I'll never forget the dying seconds. Hull put a kick up and Steady (Graham Steadman) dropped the ball in the corner. They managed to reclaim possession and Paul Eastwood had a great chance but we just scrambled across and got him into touch as the hooter went.

The result could so easily have reversed and we really had to scrap from the first minute in that match.

As for who will get there this weekend, I'm going to go for Leeds and Warrington.

I'm a big believer in destiny and sometimes a club has its name on the cup. I think that is Leeds this year.

They are quite capable of rising to the big occasions and they've not won the cup for a long time now.

Saints will be tough but Leeds will take some beating tomorrow. Catalans only beat Warrington a couple of weeks ago but I can't see them doing it again.

Their prop David Ferriol has sparked it up with what he has said about Adrian Morley, suggesting he's past his best, so expect Mozza to be flying in from the off.

A Challenge Cup semi-final is always a nerve-wracking experience – but, as we found out in '82, the eventual prize is one of the biggest in the game.

Lee Crooks was talking to Dave Craven.