Liam Farrell says Wigan may need their ‘best performance of the year’ to beat rivals St Helens in Challenge Cup Semi-Final

Ahead of Saturday afternoon’s Challenge Cup Semi-Final between historic rivals Wigan Warriors and St Helens, Liam Farrell recognises it may take ‘the best performance’ of the season in order for the Warriors to progress to the Challenge Cup final at the end of May.

Wigan and Saints face off at Elland Road in what is arguably the most intense and high-quality matchup within Super League, both sides will be looking to get one over their rivals and ensure they have a place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium come May 28th.

Speaking ahead of the clash in Yorkshire, Liam Farrell, who is set to lead the Warriors out on Saturday afternoon, spoke of his excitement ahead of the match-up.

“The last semi-final that we were involved in, we really messed up so we’re really looking forward to getting into this one.

“It’s been our first day in today (Tuesday) and you can tell there’s a real buzz and I think the lads are really looking forward to challenging themselves against the holders so we’re excited.

“The Challenge Cup always offers different problems, we’re coming up against St Helens who have been the dominant team for the last few years, so we know we’re going to have to perform and probably have to give the best performance we’ve given all year to win, but I think we’re capable of that.”

The two sides met previously on Good Friday in Rivals Round, a clash which saw the Saints come out on top despite a scary start which saw the Warriors take a shock lead through the ever-brilliant Jai Field.

But with it being on neutral ground and a different competition, Liam Farrell won’t be worrying about any past meetings between the two sides.

Farrell added: “We’ve improved week-in week-out and definitely since the Saints game we’ve improved.

“You don’t want to look into the Good Friday game too much, they’re intense, there’s a lot of emotion involved but we’ve learnt a lot since and from that game that we can take into Saturday.

“We were disappointed with our second half on Good Friday but the game on Saturday will be completely different. The Challenge cup brings a lot of emotion, and we just want to make sure we start the game well because I think that’s key against Saints with them being a fast and physical team.”

But with the Good Friday result at the back of their minds, Wigan appear to know exactly what is required of them to travel to Elland Road on Saturday and get the result needed to send themselves and their fans to Tottenham at the end of the month.

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