i would loved to have won it but if i had a choice nowadays it would be the GF.

I'd bring back the Regal trophy, but with the style of...

Only Super League Teams compete, grand finalists the year before straight through to the quarter finals, random draw, 6 out of the 12 remaining teams go through, 8 teams left straight knock out, regarded as a sort of mickey mouse cup but something the lower teams can win. And perhaps midweek game 5 maybe 4 days to recover, play your super league game on the Friday, the trophy game on Wednesday then the next Super League game on the Sunday, have the final around May. Just an idea.

great idea. more games for the players to be knackered in

Damo's got some competition at last.

its an anachronism thta is holding back british international RL. It should have gone with the switch to summer rugby. We can lose in the first round every year from here to eternity as far as I am concerned. If we are forced to keep this relic from the 70s competition (with its relic qulaity of coverage from the bbc) leeds should have used the comp as a way of blooding more youngsters like Arsenal do with a similar meaningless competition in the league cup.

Yes absolutely, keep on rolling!!

Bearing in mind we've finished top 4 years running and won the cup 3 years running, maybe it's Leeds' performance that has been greater than the sum of it's parts on a couple of occasions at Old Trafford . . . . .

No doubt and it all counts.

The finishing top was fairly marginal in 2007 and 2008 though so neither team were exactly without hope at Old Trafford. St Helens involvement in the CC possibly worked to Leeds advantage then as well. So Leeds will be praying for another Saints hangover/overconfidence meltdown come October.

Yes absolutely because the Challenge Cup and Rugby League itself didn't exist before the 70's.

I assume the WCC is important? Actually, probably not since you lost it this year.

Was the CC mickey mouse when you beat London? Or did it only become mickey mouse when you realised you couldn't win it any more no matter how hard you try?

How is it holding back international RL? The 2 finalists have to play a maximum of 5 games in the CC.
Last year in the cup Saints played:
4th Round v London Skolars
5th Round v Warrington
Quarter Final v Hull KR
Semi-Final v Leeds
Final v Hull

and Hull played:
4th Round v Rochdale
5th Round v Widnes
Quarter Final v Bradford
Semi-Final v Wakefield
Final v Saints

The Aussies play 3 State of Origin games. Mid-week. Not to mention the higher standard of competition all season long.
Which is the tougher game?
Rochdale or New South Wales?


Why? Not all change is good you know.


You're conveniently ignoring the FA Cup. (you know, the one thats similar to the RL Challenge Cup.) How are Arsenal treating that this year?

Did you watch Rugby League before you got Sky?

The Challenge Cup is a showpiece event broadcast nationally and with a 70k plus attendance.

Anyone who doesn't want that for their club or doesn't think the game needs it is an idiot.

Mind you, I'd still take a Grand Final win over it...

I think you'll find that the CC is a tad older than 30 years. I think it goes pretty much right back to the beginning of rugby league as a sport. Didn't Batley win the first Challenge Cup trophy? That'll give you an idea how far back it goes!

And I didn't think the BBC did too badly on Sunday, even if they were naff on the promotion of it. It's also the comp which brings maximum exposure for the successful teams and it's got a buzz about it still that the Grand Final lacks.

The Grand Final is very much about the Superleague; the Challenge Cup is a celebration of RL in its entirety IMO. I think this is why I feel the Challenge Cup is still very much worth keeping.

The RFL should put some serious effort into reinvigorating the comp so that all clubs feel like they may just be the giantkillers this season and they should be more proactive when they renegotiate the deal with the BBC so that they take us more seriously.

Yes they did.

Was that the game that you took four chavs on at the train station?

Thanks for confirming you are a softcock coward alias.

No. That was the Wakefield away game last eason.

HTH

At Headingley against Saints I believe.

And the second I think

I completely agree. I'd rather, if forced to choose, win the Grand Final, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to win the Cup. It has history, the massive crowd for the showpiece final makes a mockery of the idea that it isn't relevant and it is the only competition that takes our game to TV audiences who don't have Sky Sports.

Hurray for Sense.

For anyone to say the Challenge Cup isn't important and that it doesn't matter is stupid. I agree if i had to choose to win either the GF or the CC I would choose the GF but that doesn't mean the cup is of no worth. The CC is steeped in history, is classed as a a showpiece event and pretty much the only chance a RL player gets to play at our National Stadium. Im gutted Leeds are out of the CC and in my opinion so should all fellow Leeds fans be. We we're outplayed by a better team and thats that. I hope that come October we can put that right and be as successful as we have been in 07, 08.

On a seperate note and a negative towards the BBC, what is their coverage of the CC about??? It was for me appauling. Flicking between camera's in game, stupid camera angles, Jonathan Davies wittering on and on and on................ The games on Sunday we're cracking games to watch and to try and bring new spectators into our sport and whilst its commendable that the BBC are taking our game a possible new audience, for me they spoil the fact with below par coverage.

Correct. It was 1905 before it was won by a current SL club.

1897 - Batley
1898 - Batley
1899 - Oldham
1900 - Swinton
1901 - Batley
1902 - Broughton R
1903 - Halifax
1904 - Halifax
1905 -Warrington

I don't think the CC needs scraping but I do think it needs a revamp. It seems very outdated the way it is at the minute.

It's the premier cup competition in the RL world. It is what it is. Rugby balls in the hat drawn at random over several rounds and then the last five rounds when the big boys join in.

This year's comp is going to be a procession now but that's down to the luck of the draw and occasionally s[ihi[/it happens..

Yes, the chance of a cheeky week in the sunshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine