Smith praises Hull KR and wishes Leeds well

Warrington coach Tony Smith hopes that the 2015 Challenge Cup final will be a super game, and a great advert for rugby league.

Smith acknowledged that his Wolves team were second best to the Robins on Saturday at Headingley, but there was no rancour in his comments at the post-match press conference at all.

Indeed, Smith took the time to wish the Robins well, and also to offer congratulations to the other finallists, Leeds Rhinos.

“I hope they enjoy their trip to Wembley,” he said.

“I know when we tasted it for the first time for a long time it was something special.

“It still remains special, but sometimes that underdog tag can sometimes take you a long way.

“I wish them well. I wish Leeds well also. They’ve worked hard to get there and deserve to get there, and I hope it’s a great match and a great advert for rugby league.”

Smith also praised the way that Rovers coped with the wet conditions and the refereeing interpretations, while he also felt that the kicking game of the KR half-backs was very good.

“They played very, very well and controlled it,” he said.

“There was a lot of stoppages, it was stop-start.

“We wanted it to keep going. We wanted the match to flow and to run, to keep it fast, but it wasn’t to be.”

Wire also suffered injuries to key players, with Ben Harrison and Gene Ormsby both leaving the action early.

Smith refused to blame injuries for his team’s defeat, however.

“That’s the contest of rugby league,” he said.

“That’s the beauty of the Cup.

“On other days, you cope with those situations and you still win – not today.

“We weren’t good enough to do that.

“That’s why it’s all credit to Hull KR.

“I thought the kicking game was one of the aspects that they were better at.

“Some of our final plays weren’t terrific.

“We didn’t put them under the sort of pressure we should have, and that’s the difference.”