1895 Cup quarter-final draw details confirmed ahead of next weekend’s final group stage games
Halifax Panthers lifting the 1895 Cup at Wembley in 2023 - Alamy
The draw for the quarter-finals of this season’s 1895 Cup will take place next Sunday – February 18 – live on BBC Radio Cumbria following the conclusion of Workington Town’s clash with Whitehaven.
The RFL confirmed those draw details in a press release earlier this week.
Having both been beaten by Barrow Raiders, Workington and Whitehaven are battling it out for 2nd spot in Group 1, and one will have to run up a monumental score on the other if they’re to have any chance of progressing into the knockout stages.
The seven group winners will all progress automatically into the quarter-finals alongside the best-performing 2nd-placed team.
Aside from Barrow, Swinton Lions are the only other side guaranteed top spot having won both of their games in Group 6.
As things stand, Bradford Bulls, Wakefield Trinity, Oldham, Batley Bulldogs and Sheffield Eagles look the favourites to join them as group winners.
And despite being beaten by Wakefield last weekend, York look heavy favourites to take that final spot in the last-eight of the competition thanks to an opening group game which saw them thump Newcastle Thunder 114-10.
Super League clubs aren’t involved in the competition, which is solely for teams competing in the Championship & League 1.
1895 Cup quarter-final draw details confirmed ahead of next weekend’s final group stage games
The last round of group games, including that Cumbrian clash between Workington and Whitehaven, take place next weekend – February 17 & 18.
Those who make it through will then play out their quarter-final ties a fortnight later over the weekend of March 2 & 3, with the semi-finals on the weekend of May 11 & 12.
Last year, Batley and Halifax Panthers were the two sides to make it into the competition’s final, facing off under the famous Wembley arch on Challenge Cup final day.
Courtesy of a 12-10 win, the Panthers were crowned the fourth different winners of the 1895 Cup since its formation back in 2019, with a new club winning it every year it’s been played out since then.
2024 will again see the cup’s final played out at Wembley on Challenge Cup final day, which this year takes place on Saturday, June 8.