Profiling Leeds Rhinos’ three potential Challenge Cup opponents with remarkable streak on line

The home of Wests Warriors in Acton.
Leeds Rhinos face a unique and historical trip to face non-league opposition in the Third Round of this year’s Challenge Cup following this week’s draw.
On the assumption that their eventual tie is not switched to AMT Headingley, the Rhinos will play at a venue they have never walked out at before next month – with one of Wests Warriors, the Army or the RAF set to take on one of rugby league’s most famous and historical clubs.
It will also mark the fifth season of Leeds’ extraordinary winless run in the Challenge Cup. Not since winning the final in 2020 have they beaten any side in the sport’s most famous competition, with exits at the first hurdle in FOUR straight years!
That should, all things being equal, end next month. But who are Leeds’ three possible opponents – and where could the Rhinos be heading to?
Wests Warriors

Wests are already through to the Second Round of this year’s cup and are one win away from a dream tie against the Rhinos having beaten Eastern Rhinos last weekend.
They play in the sport’s Southern Conference League, and are based in Acton in West London. That is a ground they share with rugby union side Wasps FC, who split from the Wasps we came to know when the 15-man code went professional in the 1990s.
Wests made it all the way to Round Three last year, before losing to Hammersmith Hills Hoists in an all-London affair. The previous year they also got through the first two rounds and faced professional opposition – but they were beaten 80-4 at home to Widnes Vikings.
Their squad includes the son of a Rhinos great too: William Poching, son of Willie, scored twice in their win over Eastern Rhinos last week!
British Army

The Army’s rugby league team have an extraordinary history, much like the other Armed Forces sides in the game.
Historically, rugby league was banned in the Forces by rugby union due to the strength of the 15-man sport. But that changed in 1994, when Jeremy Hanley MP – the Armed Forces Minister of the time – lifted the ban, giving birth to new rugby league teams including the Army.
If it is the Army who would get through to face Leeds, the Rhinos would have an almighty trip to the south: they play at the Aldershot Military Stadium in Hampshire.
The Army were beaten by Fryston in last year’s cup in the opening round.
The RAF
The Army will face the RAF next weekend for the right to travel to Wests in the Second Round: and they too have a remarkable history.
When the ban was lifted on Forces playing rugby league, current Halifax Panthers CEO Damian Clayton, who served in the RAF as Squadron Leader, was instrumental in the creation of a Royal Air Force rugby league team.
A tie against the RAF would be the most local for the Rhinos if they were to play away: they would be heading to RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.