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Huddersfield will be destined to end their 69 years of hurt in the Challenge Cup when they come up against a Wigan side that know all about the Cup having being the most successful competitor with winning the competition 19 times.
Ian Watson does have the final experience when he was the Head Coach at Salford with them getting to the Grand Final in 2019 and the Challenge Cup in 2020 when it was behind closed doors, however he didn’t quite get over the line.
But, he has brought in the likes of Chris Hill who has won the competition twice with Warrington in 2012 and 2019 in attempt to get Huddersfield back to winning trophies again just like they were in the early days in Rugby League.
The last time Huddersfield participated in a Challenge Cup final was when Nathan Brown was in charge of the club all the way back in 2009 when they faced the Warrington Wolves, however they were beaten by Tony Smith’s men by 25-16 on the 114th anniversary of Rugby League being born. The year after their Challenge Cup final defeat, they played Warrington again in round five and got beat 60-4 at the Galpharm Stadium.
The last time Huddersfield got far in the Challenge Cup was a decade ago when they faced Warrington at the AJ Bell Stadium but was defeated 33-6 by Tony Smith’s men. This is the first time so many Huddersfield fans have seen their club get to a major final and you can feel a real buzz amongst the place and there will be many more to come for the Giants with Ian Watson as head coach.
13 years on and they are back in the Challenge Cup Final this weekend at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but it all started back in Round 6 when they started their Challenge Cup run in Cumbria where they travelled to Barrow who currently sit in 6th in the championship where the league below team give the Giants a run for their money as it ended 30-16 to Huddersfield as they progressed to the Quarter-Finals of the cup.
Huddersfield were at home in the Quarter-Final where they welcomed the Hull FC to the John Smiths Stadium and in front of a crowd of 3,637, the Giants edged past Brett Hodgson’s men and won by 24-16 to get to Elland Road and play in the Challenge Cup semi-final against the red and white side of Hull, The Robins.
Tries from Josh Jones, Inner Senior, Jermaine McGillvary and Oliver Trout got past Hull KR to get their Town back to the capital after so long not getting to a final.
However, a Wigan side stand in their way, who steep in Challenge Cup history but haven’t won the competition in nine years and with the season they have had so far, they head into the clash the favourites. Although, these two sides met a fortnight ago in Huddersfield where the Giants were victorious by 32-22, Wigan didn’t play their full strength team so the Giants couldn’t read to much into that as Ian Watson said after the game to Sky Sports.
What ever the result is this weekend, the club should be proud of what it’s achieved of actually getting to the Final. However, it will be a “Huddersfield Takeover” this weekend in London as Huddersfield Town are also in the capital as they are in the championship play-off final against Nottingham Forest this Sunday at Wembley so we have seen a high increase of ticket sales for the Challenge Cup Final with all Huddersfield Town fans wanting to cheer on the Rugby part of town and have a good weekend of sport.
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