Last chance saloon at Wembley for Castleford’s Oliver Holmes as he looks to bow out with a bang by lifting Challenge Cup

Forward Oliver Holmes made his debut for hometown club Castleford Tigers in 2010 and is now preparing to take to the field in this season’s Betfred Challenge Cup final at Wembley in what could be his last chance to win a major honour in the black and amber before the two go their separate ways.

Holmes, along-with team-mate Peter Mata’utia and head coach Darryl Powell, has pre-agreed to join Super League rivals Warrington Wolves as of the start of next season. Of course, a Grand Final appearance this campaign is still viable albeit highly unlikely, meaning that this could well be the trio’s last opportunity to earn a major honour while with the Tigers.

That opportunity arises under the famous Wembley arch as Cas come up against St Helens in the Challenge Cup final, and long-servant Holmes is ready to ‘take it all in’ as he revealed to Prost International earlier this week in the build-up to Saturday’s game.

When asked if this final was made all the more special due to the likelihood of it being his last opportunity to lift major silverware with the Tigers, the 28-year old said: “I’ve spent my whole adult life at Cas and to not have a major trophy behind me and the club in these 12 years is something I want to rectify.”

Holmes has already made over 200 appearances for the Black and Amber army, so it’s no secret that a major trophy is well overdue. 2014 was the closest which the forward came to success in that field as Cas lifted the League Leaders Shield but went on to lose 10-23 to fellow Yorkshire outfit Leeds Rhinos in the Grand Final at Old Trafford.

This time around, Holmes explained that he and his current teammates would be ‘drinking in the atmosphere, the build up and everything that comes with a final’ as opposed to treating it like any other game as the club had done in the lead up to that Grand Final defeat.

Since qualifying for the Challenge Cup final in early June, neither side have had a routine Super League schedule and have seen games postponed respectively for issues with COVID-19. Both clubs did play over the course of the last weekend, St Helens registering victory away at Wakefield Trinity and Castleford losing out heavily at home to Salford Red Devils on Sunday.

That said, the Tigers fielded a very youthful team at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle and in reality, the players who will be stepping out at Wembley now haven’t played a game since June 24, Catalans Dragons the opponents that day. Holmes however believes that the delay will only benefit his team’s chances of reigning victorious in the final.

He said: “It freshens us up and we’ve all seen how hectic the fixture schedule has been, so having this time off has given us time to freshen players up and puts us at an advantage going into this game. We’re in the best place possible to go on and win it [the Challenge Cup final].”

Holmes concluded his interview with a message for the Tigers’ fans with whom he has developed a warm connection with over the last decade.

He said: “This is a major final that we’ve not managed to crack since 1986. The club has a rich history in this cup, winning it four times previous, so I know that the fans have a big affiliation with the competition and we’ll be going out there to bring that cup back to Castleford. Make sure that the town’s rocking when we get back on Saturday.

“Cas is a club that will always have a special place in my heart. We’re doing this for you as a club, as a town and I hope that you can get behind us and give us as much support as possible when we leave on Thursday.”

At 28, and with an emotional goodbye to come at the end of this campaign, it’s clear that the Tigers’ long-term servant wants nothing more than to leave his association with Castleford on a fairytale ending by bringing the Challenge Cup back to the club for the first time in 35 years. Whether he will be able to, well we’ll just have to wait and see…

Our reporter Eithan will be live at Wembley for the final providing live updates, so drop him a follow on Twitter – @99EITHAN

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt