The 2025 Challenge Cup welcomed the ‘big boys’ to the competition at round three, with a money-making day for a number of smaller clubs with an opportunity to play host to the top sides in the country, but few with more than ‘a snowball’s chance in hell’ of progression into the fourth-round draw.

One of the hopefuls was York RLFC Knights whose reward for a comprehensive 72-12 win over the Keighley Cougars last weekend was a home tie against last years Grand Finalists, and on of the favourites for this seasons Super League crown, Hull Kingston Rovers.

There was a record home crowd in attendance, those from York with the hope of a cup upset, but with the fear of a cricket score in the away column.

The final place in the third round of the challenge cup, and a televised game at home against Hull Kingston Rovers, was the reward on offer as the Keighley Cougars hosted York RLFC Knights at Cougar Park.

A division apart in the league ladder, Championship side York were firm favourites for the win and progress, but Keighley came into the game determined to put on a show and hoping to spring a shock in a pre-season environment.

The cameras and commentators from The Sportsman were in attendance, along with a normally noisy and partisan home crowd.

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters has detailed how his backroom staff will be reshuffled following the departure of Brett Delaney, who has joined Castleford Tigers as an assistant coach.

Peters has decided against replacing Delaney with an outside hire, instead opting to entrust the defensive duties to assistant coach Danny Ward and transition development coach Shaun Kenny-Dowall.

Ward will continue to lead the defensive systems and principles, while Kenny-Dowall will take on the attacking aspects of Delaney's role.

A place at Old Trafford awaited the victors as Hull Kingston Rovers looked to achieve their first ever Grand Final against a Warrington Wolves side who have made it through to the showpiece game on four previous occasions but who have never lifted the trophy.

The two teams had already met on three occasions in Super League 2024, Warrington winning the first two meetings by 22-20 and 20-8 while the most recent encounter saw Hull KR triumphant by the scoreline of 22-4.

The home side were slight favourites with the bookies going into the game and they were handicapped by four points on the coupon, it was an indication that in all reality the game was too close to call and the stage was set for a great game of knockout rugby.

The aims for both Hull KR and the Leeds Rhinos were clear as they went into their round twenty-seven encounter at opposite ends of the play-off zone.

Hull KR knew that a win would be enough to guarantee them second spot and a weekend off before a home game in the play-off eliminator while nothing less than a victory would suffice for the Leeds Rhinos who needed the two points to lift them above the Leigh Leopards and into sixth spot should the Leopards not be able to secure a victory over St Helens in a game kicking off at the same time.

Hull KR were the massive favourites with the bookies, the Rhinos not given a hope of taking the points and extending their season.

With three games of the regular season remaining the game of the round, and probably the game of the season, was a Friday night game from The Brick as second placed Wigan Warriors faced the league leading Hull KR in what was essentially a shoot-out for the minor premiership.

Wigan were favourites with the bookies and had been handicapped by six points on the coupon but try telling that to the masses who had made the journey from the east coast to cheer their side to what they hoped would be a famous victory.

It promised to be a magical night for one of these sides as their laid claim to the top of the table.

Hull Kingston Rovers were massive bookies favourites for the win as the league leaders travelled to the Totally Wicked Stadium to take on Paul Wellens St Helens side who were kept scoreless by arch-rivals Wigan Warriors last weekend and who have only registered two win in their last eight outings.

Hull KR are top of the table and a win would almost certainly mean that they would end the weekend ahead of the rest of the field whereas a loss for Saints would plunge them further into crisis and drag them deeper into the fight for a play off place with four other sides.

There was plenty to play for in the sunshine on Merseyside.

At the start of round twenty of Super League 2024 the fixture between Warrington Wolves and Hull Kingston Rovers was an encounter between the top two in the table, but a win last night for the Wigan Warriors saw them jump to the top of the pile with Warrington needing a win of any description to return to the top themselves, KR knowing that an eleven point or more win would see them sitting pretty.

The bookies fancied a home win, especially with their major signing coup John Bateman making his debut from the bench after being released on loan by Wests Tigers until the end of the season.

That debut would likely spur the visitors who are having a sensational season so far in 2024 as they look for their first ever Grand Final appearance come the end of the season.

It was Leeds Rhinos ‘Brad Arthur’ test day as the new coach took charge of the side for the first time as they came up against a trailblazing Hull KR side who are having a sensational season inside the top six and who wanted the two points to move level with the Warrington Wolves in second place.

The bookies made the visitors slight favourites but with only a two point advantage to the Rhinos on the handicap coupon they were far from convinced that this was an ironed on win for the Robins as Leeds looked to get two points closer to the Salford Red Devils and the cherished sixth spot in the table.

The Leeds masses gathered at Headingley to ask whether this would be a new dawn for their beloved club, or more of the same underperforming that their side has displayed for the last few years.

It was third bottom against third top as the Robins of Hull KR travelled to West Yorkshire to take on a Castleford Tigers side looking for their fourth victory in a disappointing season while a win for the visitors would lift them level on points with the two sides above them at the top of the table.

The bookies had given the Tigers a twelve-point start on the coupon with all expectations pre-game being for a decent win for the side from East Hull but most thought it unlikely that they would get enough points to boost their points difference to take them to the top of the table.

Hull KR were pretty in pink as a good crowd made it into the Jungle to cheer on their sides.

Last years defeated finalists, Hull Kingston Rovers, were looking for a return to Wembley as they faced cup kings and twenty times winners, Wigan Warriors, in the first semi-final in Doncaster.

Hull KR won the 2024 meeting between the two sides at the end of April by a convincing 26-10 scoreline and the Robins came into the game determined to repeat last year’s feat of making it to the final and hopefully going one better than last season.

Wigan were the favourites with the bookies, KR being given an eight-point start on the handicap coupon, the odds perhaps being set based on last week’s Super League results.

 

It was a tasty looking game to open round eleven of Super League 2024 as two of the six sides sharing the top of the table met at the Halliwell Jones Stadium as the second placed Warrington Wolves took on a buoyant Hull Kingston Rovers side who began the night in fourth spot.

One of these sides would be two points clear at the end of eighty minutes while depending on results elsewhere in the round, the other could conceivably drop outside the top six and the all-important play-off places.

Warrington were the slight favourites with the bookies, handicapped four points on the coupon, but there would be no underestimating a Hull KR side which has shocked pundits and delighted their home support with a fantastic start to the season and who ran them very close when the two sides met in March.

Both the Catalans Dragons and Hull Kingston Rovers could finish round eight at the top of the league as they met in the south of France for arguably the tie of the round, the Dragons needing just a win to go two points clear at the top, KR needing to win by a forty-point margin to jump four places.

The bookies favoured a home win, handicapping the Dragons by six points on the coupon, but the Robins are it making up the numbers in 2024 and were looking to take the two points to lift themselves level on league points with the four sides ahead of them.

The atmosphere was electric as the two sides took to the field.

In a repeat of the 2023 Challenge Cup Final, Hull Kingston Rovers were looking for revenge against a Leigh Leopards side who were hungry for a return trip to Wembley to relive the glories of last season.

Hull KR favourites, based on their great start to the Super League season, and they were handicapped by eight points on the coupon, but this was the cup and in the cup it is possible for anything to happen.

It was a full-blooded opening eight minutes with both sides setting out their intentions early in proceedings, Leigh having the better of the but it was the Robins who opened the scoring with Joe Burgess breaking the Leigh line on his own twenty and sprinting down the centre of the field to sidestep the full back and go in under the sticks.

Mikey Lewis was unable to add the conversion.

The atmosphere and expectations were much different from when Hull KR and Hull FC met in the opening fixture of the season, when the sides were on parity with high hopes and dreams for the season ahead.

The Good Friday derby game saw a Hull KR side who were doing well in mid-table and who knew that a win would put them level on points with the current top of the table while FC came into the game third bottom with the hopes that a win would lift them above Leigh into ninth spot.

KR humiliated the Airlie Birds on that occasion with a big twenty-two point victory, keeping their old enemy pointless and sending the home crowd home with desperation on their faces.

The bookies expected that it would the Robins who would take the win and the points with a massive twenty-two-point handicap on the coupon, no-one gave the visitors a chance.

Warrington Wolves travelled east to take on Hull KR as two of the sides who hope to be in contention for the top six at the end of the season met with a chance to go to the top of the table, at least for twenty-four hours.

Nial Evalds replaced Joe Burgess for the Robins while Sam Burgess’s side saw the returns of George Williams, Connor Wrench and Jordy Crowther.

Hull KR were favourites for the win with the Wolves being given a four-point start on the handicap with both sides knowing that a win would send them second, a big win for either side sending them above St Helens into top spot, but most pundits thought it would be a close game.

Hull Kingston Rovers had their eyes on the top of the table as they travelled to a soggy Greater Manchester to take on a Salford Red Devils side who were looking to spoil the visitors one hundred percent start to the season, and go back above the Leeds Rhinos into the top half of the table.

A win of any description would lift KR into second, a big points win would see them finish the round in top spot and they were favourites with the bookies to take the points off Salford, the home side getting eight points start on the coupon.

Salford lost Ryan Brierley prior to kick off with a hamstring issue, Chris Atkin stepping into his shoes at full back for the hosts.

After a perfect start to the season, humiliating their arch enemies from across the city, Hull Kingston Rovers welcomed the Leeds Rhinos to Craven Park for the opening match of round two of Super League XXIX, hoping for another clean sheet but happy to settle for a win and the important two points.

The only change to the starting thirteen for the home side was the promotion of George King and the selection of Corey Hall to the bench in place of Matt Parcell (suspended) while Leeds had Justin Sangare in for Oledzki (shoulder), Bentley stepping off the bench into the starting line-up in place of Donaldson and Alfie Edgell for Lachlan Miller who was taken ill on the coach.

The home side were the favourites for the win, the Rhinos given a six-point start on the handicap coupon as the bookies believed that Mikey Lewis would again turn on the style and the Rhinos would struggle on the road.

After a Titanic battle in the south of France, the Catalans Dragons eliminated the reigning Champions St Helens with a last-minute Sam Tomkins Try which saw the French side into their second Grand Final in three years while ending the four-year domination of the most successful side of the modern era.

The second play-off promised to be equally as dramatic as the Wigan Warriors, sought a return to Old Trafford for the first time since 2020 as they came up against a Hull KR side intent on reaching their first ever Grand Final.

This was the fifth meeting of the season between the two sides with honours shared at two wins each despite Wigan having a massive points aggregate advantage thanks to their 64-6 triumph in the most recent meeting in August and which made them strong favourites with the bookies for the win at the DW Stadium and progress to Old Trafford.

Super League entered the knock-out stages with a play-off encounter between two sides who have had sensational seasons and exceeded all expectations as Hull KR played hosts to the cup winning Leigh Leopards at Craven Park with the winners going through to a game against one of the top two next weekend.

It was KR who finished the regular season in fourth spot, and they were handicapped by six points on the coupon against the side who felt hard done by when they narrowly lost to the Wigan Warriors last weekend to drop from fourth a swap places with their hosts on points difference.

The season would end for one of these two after what promised to be an intense eighty minutes as the two sides played out a re-run the Challenge Cup final.