Can Saints Avoid Another Cup Mauling...?

Saturday 13 May 2017. Saints go to what used to be known as Wheldon Road, now the Mend-A-Hose Jungle to take on table-topping Castleford Tigers in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup. Do they mend hoses in jungles? Anyway it’s a moot point perhaps.

What transpires is one of the most embarrassing and crushing defeats in recent times for Saints as they are belted 53-10 by Daryl Powell’s soon to be League Leaders Shield winners. Cas run in 12 tries, including three for the league’s top scorer Greg Eden and doubles for former Saint Michael Shenton and winger Greg Minikin. Saints can respond only through Ryan Morgan and Luke Douglas. They look like a team from a lower division, only slightly more ramshackle and disorganised. It’s pitiful, our Wembley dreams obliterated for another year.

So, who fancies another go? This morning’s Challenge Cup draw, painfully dragged out by Warrington’s very own multi-millionaire, one-time TV star and celebrity binge-drinker Chris Evans on his BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show, sent Saints back to the scene of that horrific Tiger mauling. They will meet Powell’s men again on the weekend of May 12-13 in the last 16, as they begin their quest to end a run of 10 years without a Wembley appearance. Listening to the draw, the news was particularly piercing since it arrived some 20 minutes after the advertised draw time of 8.10am. And that after the tedium of Craig David’s new warble and some very average and stereotypical ‘banter’ between Evans and Josh Charnley and Jamie Jones-Buchanan who were both present. Not sure why as it goes, since neither was able to make the draw itself given that both Warrington and Leeds were in the hat. Or the velvet bag as it is referred to.

The velvet bag is a bag of shite on this occasion. How is it that we get to travel to one of the top sides, one with very recent memories of not only blasting us off the park last May but also of edging us out in Golden Point extra time for a place in the Grand Final at the end of last season? When are we going to get a gimme? The season before we lost so heavily at Castleford we drew Hull FC at home and were again royally stuffed as the black and whites went on to win the first of their back to back Challenge Cups in 2016. I’m left yearning for the home draws I remember against York and Oldham, where hardly anyone turned up but at least we were guaranteed safe passage. Certainly no chance of being humiliated on national television.

But that was then. We have a much better chance of progressing this time. In our last meeting with Castleford at home on the opening weekend of the Super League season we whacked them 46-6. Since then Castleford have also lost to Warrington and Wigan this term and in truth don’t look quite like the attacking machine of a year ago. Meanwhile Saints have been excellent so far, losing only to Leeds and Wakefield in 12 matches and sitting rather prettily atop the Super League table as they prepare to visit Salford tomorrow (Thursday). There is every reason to believe that we can end our run of Challenge Cup disasters but everyone will need to be at the top of the game to avoid another year of cup angst among the support.

Elsewhere in the draw there are memories of the 1983 Challenge Cup final as holders Hull FC meet Featherstone Rovers, latterly of the Championship and therefore with a minimal chance of repeating their epic 14-12 victory of 35 years ago. The cherry and shite travel to FC’s neighbours Hull KR who they always, always thrash despite the fact that KCom Craven Park is that most treasured of rugby league commodities ‘A Difficult Place To Go’. Toronto Wolfpack have been given their usual permission to flout the rules and will not have to host Warrington despite being drawn at home, instead travelling to the Haliwell Jones Stadium in what will be the Canadian side’s first appearance at this stage of the competition. Following on from their win over York in the last round Super League whipping boys Catalans Dragons have been handed another chance to taste what it is like to actually win as they host League One Whitehaven. The Cumbrian side are the lowest ranked side left in the competition and will take inspiration from how close York ran Steve McNamara’s side. However, a defeat for the French side would still be a seismic shock. There’s an all Super League clash between Widnes and Leeds, while Leigh Centurions welcome Salford Red Devils in what would have been an all-top flight affair this time last year. Rounding things off the currently hapless Huddersfield Giants will be at home to the confusingly inconsistent Wakefield Trinity.

So Cas. Bloody Cas. Bloody Classy Cas. It would be a major surprise if the Castleford v Saints tie is not one of the four chosen for live television coverage in this round (two on the BBC and two on Sky) so if you can’t make it across the great divide you should still be able to catch all the action as it happens. Already looking forward to it.