[quote="DMF":3pnn26bs]This shake up has been something that should have happened for a great number of years. And now it's here, people still find something to moan about![/quote:3pnn26bs] Well those of you who are for it, I trust in that you will be attending the game?

A laudable idea but RL is not soccer. There is zero chance of an upset in any of the games (assuming the Bulls beat Donny, them beating Cas wouldn't be an upset), even with SL teams playing weakened teams. Other than where the game is on their doorstep (and even then, it's debatable) fans won't travel in anything like the numbers needed to give the home teams a decent money spinner. No idea what the answer is but this isn't it, imo.

[quote="YosemiteSam":l4okt3o9]A laudable idea but RL is not soccer. There is zero chance of an upset in any of the games (assuming the Bulls beat Donny, them beating Cas wouldn't be an upset), even with SL teams playing weakened teams. Other than where the game is on their doorstep (and even then, it's debatable) fans won't travel in anything like the numbers needed to give the home teams a decent money spinner. No idea what the answer is but this isn't it, imo.[/quote:l4okt3o9]

possibility of a fantastic gesture from the club here. Offer to play at HQ and let the opposition keep the gate (after expenses)

Personally happy with the new format. I remember when we played Blackpool years ago and it was a great chance to take on lower league clubs. Can't see us fielding a strong team so not much risk. I'd go with: J Connor R Lumb J Smith M Simpson (if fit) N McCormack J Sinfield G Brown T Nicholson-Watton J Diskin T Holroyd M Gannon B Littlewood (if fit) P Cassell Bench C Jenkins S Lisone T Warren J Stead Good opportunity for some of the fringe / bench players and players coming back from injury to get some minutes.

I know what the format is trying to achieve, but the real (only?) beneficiaries are the SL club in getting minutes for squad players. Getting a 3 figure pasting isn't going to help a community club and will be a terrible spectacle.

I hope we play it away from Headingley, if it is wests , maybe they could play at Wimbledon as it’s geared up for RL. On team strength, I think we will go much stronger than some of the lineups on here, we have not won a single CC match since 2020 and in effect it’s another warm up for Wakey. I reckon it will be as close to full strength bar niggles.

I fear if we went with the line up above that we would be at risk of losing. Men v boys etc. but could be completely wrong. I hope Brad Arthur stops letting Leeds players go on overseas holidays every weekend we have off because of an early challenge cup exit. It feels over previous seasons like the players have been happy to have an early exit so that they can have more holidays.

Have heard that Leeds have made plans to get the tie played at Headingley with the club hoping the Army beat Wests. Will make a farce of the new structure if we don’t play the away tie in the first year it’s in force.

[quote="Sir Gregory ParsloeP":ozsdux03]we have not won a single CC match since 2000 [/quote:ozsdux03] Crikey, have I lived In an alternate universe for 25 years?

[quote="Sir Gregory ParsloeP":ruubmc23]Have heard that Leeds have made plans to get the tie played at Headingley with the club hoping the Army beat Wests. Will make a farce of the new structure if we don’t play the away tie in the first year it’s in force.[/quote:ruubmc23] Hopefully not. I fancy the away day but less sure about a home game.

[quote="christopher":2h1hc3xi]Crikey, have I lived In an alternate universe for 25 years? [/quote:2h1hc3xi] Corrected

[quote="Sir Gregory ParsloeP":3fhtyotr]Corrected[/quote:3fhtyotr] Fwiw i agree with you, i think we’ll go with a squad to get the job done

On the home/away thing, I think there's a bit of a difference between Leeds playing a semi-pro club compared to our opposition in the first round. Leeds playing at Batley say, or one of the Cumbrian clubs, would help raise the profile locally a bit and hopefully earn some money. On the other hand there's little to no benefit to the game as a whole in playing at Aldershot barracks or at an RU club ground. Also, if you were one of their players, which would you rather do - play at your home ground, or take maybe the only chance you'll ever have to play somewhere like Headingley? I'd also suggest that Leeds may be tempted to put more kids into the team at home than away as well. Regardless we shouldn't be risking more than a handful of first choice players in this round of the Cup. A scrappy win without injuries is far better than a huge score with injuries.

The away team should not be allowed to play at home. Do Salford agree to play at wigan instead of at home to get more money? The idea of the draw is to give one side a random advantage. The away team should not be allowed to play at home even if for the best on intentions. Maybe play at Hunslet? The Army won't have a fan base but if West's want to play in London go for it.

Salford v Wigan is a straw man extraordinaire. We aren't playing Salford. Or Batley. Or even Oulton Raiders. There is zero chance of an upset, this is not a David vs Goliath its full time pros vs amateurs. If our opponents want to play at home fair enough, nobody's going to force anyone to give up home "advantage." But this is not some sort of sacred cow - moving games has been done many times in the past.

Arthur suggests he hasn’t looked that far ahead and has no intentions of handing shirts out for the sake of it. Will be really interesting to see what that squad looks like.

Strong 21 man squad names almost full strength, obviously mean business Could be a record score (recent years)

I think the format of the cup is close to being how it should be giving lower league and community clubs the chance to play against the elite clubs in this country just like the FA cup in football, I do think there needs to be some middle ground met regarding using community clubs grounds as we’ve seen a lot of fixtures reversed I don’t know why the RFL couldn’t have allowed West Warriors to used London Broncos home ground for example as it would have still be a home tie for them plus you have more of a chance of locals going to watch the game instead of bringing the game to Headingley, if they allowed west warriors another stadium to use as close to their location as possible and let them take 70% of funds generated on the match day that’s what would bring magic back to the challenge cup. Anyway I’ll be in attendance tomorrow would be disappointed if we didn’t get into the hundreds especially with the team Arthur has selected. Hopefully it’s a good game and a great experience for West Warriors. I reckon Arthur goes with 1.Connor 2.Lumb. 3.Newman 4.Handley 5.Hall 6.Sinfield 7.Frawley 8.Holroyd 9.Ackers 10. Palasia 11. Gannon 12. McDonnell 13. Nicholson-Watton 14. Edgell 15.Lisone 16. J.Smith 17. Jenkins

Is Bentley injured? I presume there's not a ban carrying over from last season.

[quote="JRhino1":1qyr043m]I think the format of the cup is close to being how it should be giving lower league and community clubs the chance to play against the elite clubs in this country just like the FA cup in football, I do think there needs to be some middle ground met regarding using community clubs grounds as we’ve seen a lot of fixtures reversed I don’t know why the RFL couldn’t have allowed West Warriors to used London Broncos home ground for example as it would have still be a home tie for them plus you have more of a chance of locals going to watch the game instead of bringing the game to Headingley, if they allowed west warriors another stadium to use as close to their location as possible and let them take 70% of funds generated on the match day that’s what would bring magic back to the challenge cup. Anyway I’ll be in attendance tomorrow would be disappointed if we didn’t get into the hundreds especially with the team Arthur has selected. Hopefully it’s a good game and a great experience for West Warriors. I reckon Arthur goes with 1.Connor 2.Lumb. 3.Newman 4.Handley 5.Hall 6.Sinfield 7.Frawley 8.Holroyd 9.Ackers 10. Palasia 11. Gannon 12. McDonnell 13. Nicholson-Watton 14. Edgell 15.Lisone 16. J.Smith 17. Jenkins[/quote:1qyr043m] The RFL didn't stop them hosting at another ground, They opted not to. Probably on grounds of cost.

...and because playing at headingley against Leeds is a once in a lifetime opportunity for their players.

[quote="Clearwing":lhlqm9ws]The RFL didn't stop them hosting at another ground, They opted not to. Probably on grounds of cost.[/quote:lhlqm9ws] My point was that the RFL should have help with that because no amateur club could afford to rent out a professional stadium. Which is probably why they opted for it switched to Headingley to experience a decent crowd playing Leeds at Home, just a shame it’s at the same time as Leeds United FA cup clash because Headingley will be even quieter than it was already gonna be be amazed if we get much more than 5k still an experience for West Warriors though I suppose

I went down today and enjoyed it, we look fit and n good shape. Very comfortable as expected, credit to Wests they gave it a good crack, young Poching made a few good tackles. Bentley and Oledski rested. Newman and Croft withdrawn at halftime, Croft looked fine, Newman seemed to play last few minutes at half speed, hope he is OK. Sinfield did well but limped off after getting caught in the ankle, suspect he will miss next week as a minimum. Good to see Edgell back. I like the look of Palasia, he looks a much better all round player than say Tetevano. The crowd was very low, I was disappointed just how poor it was. I wonder if next season , they need to put the championship and L1 clubs in a bag and draw 12 ties v SL teams , then draw the other games . Hopefully this would mean the home club could play at home and create more interest from SL fans.

https://x.com/leedsrhinos/status/188823 ... N0BP03gOHQ

https://x.com/leedsrhinos/status/188823 ... N0BP03gOHQ