Why the RFL’s Challenge Cup revamp has backfired spectacularly
The RFL's revamp of the Challenge Cup has not worked.
There is no shame in trying something different to try and spark interest in a flailing competition. That’s a point that needs making almost immediately here.
The Challenge Cup is floundering, and the reasons as to why are up for debate. There is no real interest until the latter stages so for the Rugby Football League to attempt to revamp it and make things interesting in the earlier rounds? You have to say fair enough. Few were complaining at the time of the announcement.
But news of yet another tie having its venue switched to a Super League ground just hammers home the feeling that this idea of Super League teams facing clubs lower down the pyramid just has not worked.
The latest tie to be switched is Leeds Rhinos’ game against Wests Warriors. They will play the Southern Conference League side at AMT Headingley rather than in Action, after the clubs agreed to a switch. The reasons why are officially unclear: but it doesn’t take a genius to work them out.
It’s also being played at exactly the same time as Leeds United versus Millwall in the FA Cup, by the way: so don’t count on a bumper crowd and a bumper payday for Wests.
But that’s not really the point here.
The idea behind this revamp was to instil a bit of magic into the cup. To see some of the sport’s biggest teams playing teams they’d never ordinarily play, at grounds they’d never ordinarily play at.
Wests Warriors v Leeds Rhinos at Acton? That is interesting. West Hull v St Helens at Johnny Whiteley Park? Yes please. York Acorn v Hull FC in.. you get the point. It’s the venues that create the intrigue in those ties, and the venues that make people take notice.
But as it stands, those games are now being switched to alternative venues at a rate of knots. It’s looking likely that St Helens will travel to the completely unfamiliar surroundings of.. Craven Park in Round Three. Hull FC are going to be playing York Acorn at Featherstone Rovers or Doncaster.
This is not magical. In fact, it’s pretty – whisper it quietly – boring. And it’s not the fault of the community clubs, or indeed the Super League clubs.
You could argue that it’s unsafe for Super League players to be playing on pitches that won’t be professional standard: though that’s an insult to amateur and community clubs who work tirelessly for little reward if you have that viewpoint.
And also, if that was a genuine concern at RFL HQ, then the revamp should have never happened: because it was clearly obvious that there would be some Super League clubs drawn against teams from outside of the professional structure. It was an inevitability, in fact.
By far and away the most interesting Challenge Cup tie of the last few years in the earlier rounds was Siddal taking on Toronto Wolfpack. I was fortunate enough to attend that game, and while a lot of the intrigue was based around Toronto’s first game, it was also because professional, high-profile players were going to play at an amateur venue.
The buzz around Siddal that day was incredible. A local community welcoming big names and a big storyline to town. It poured down with rain, which made for an even more intriguing game. It’s sad clubs who’ve fought to get this far won’t get a similar opportunity.
Again, to rope back around to the original point, you can’t really criticise the RFL for trying to pump a bit of life into the earlier rounds of the cup. Nobody was complaining when the decision was made.
But if you knew all along that any ties with even a whiff of lustre and intrigue attached to them were just going to be hoisted away from their original venues and played elsewhere, then people would have opposed the revamp to start with.
Do not be surprised if things change again next year when you see some of the scorelines – and lack of interest – in what should have been a round littered with stories and magic.
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