Paul Wellens eyeing up Challenge Cup glory in first year as St Helens head coach

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens says winning the Challenge Cup is ‘very high on the agenda’ for his side in 2023, with a trip to Halifax up first.

Having already claimed the World Club Challenge this year in Australia, the reigning champions travel to The Shay on Friday to face Championship outfit Halifax in the sixth round, live on Viaplay.

As a player, Wellens won the Challenge Cup on five occasions, while St Helens last lifted the prestigious cup in 2021, defeating Castleford 26-12 at a behind-closed-doors Wembley. 

“It’s very high on the agenda,” Wellens said on the Challenge Cup. 

“Every time we get to the starting blocks at St Helens at the start of every year, we want to be as successful as we possibly can and winning the Challenge Cup is always a goal of ours. 

“Obviously we had some success there a couple of years ago and it would be unbelievable to replicate that again this year.”

Paul Wellens previews Halifax test

Simon Grix’s Halifax host the four-peat Super League champions, who also faced Whitehaven last year in March on a special occasion for the Cumbrian side. 

The Panthers have defeated Featherstone, Barrow and Bradford to reach the sixth round, while they sit fourth in the Championship table with seven wins from 11.  

“We had a similar experience last year when we went to Whitehaven and we saw how that galvanised them and the amount of energy and effort they put into that performance and we see Halifax being exactly the same this week,” Wellens said. 

“It’s going to be a huge game for the club [Halifax].

“They’re going to be highly-motivated and I’ve made that very clear to my players. We’re going to have to perform well and we’re going to have to be very strong defensively as Halifax are a team that like to move the ball a lot. 

“In some recent performances I’ve watched, they’ve played some fantastic rugby, so we have to respect that.”

“It’s a tough game against a highly motivated opposition.”

Welles admits he and his coaching staff have done their homework on their Championship opposition, who recently defeated Whitehaven 60-0 at home and are currently enjoying a four-game winning streak. 

The 43-year-old coach insists his side will take on Halifax like any other game in Super League, with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs. 

The St Helens coach continued: “I think the one thing that does strike me about them, and it’s probably the biggest thing, is that they’re a really competitive team. They work so hard for each other.

“It’s a tough game against a highly motivated opposition.

“You have to be a bit more diligent. Our coaching staff have been excellent, Ian Talbot has been looking at Halifax now for a couple of weeks in the background so we can get more information on a team that us as coaches and players know less about than Super League. 

“There’s some players there that we do know a bit about that have been around a long time. 

“We’ve had them watched. It’s important that we do that and we’ve had access to their games on Opta. 

“We’re well taken care of in that respect and we’ll play Halifax and prepare for Halifax like we would any other game.”

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