Rugby League World editor Lorraine Marsden speaks to one St Helens star hoping that history can repeat itself
For most people, you’d think that scoring two crucial tries to help your side retain the Betfred Challenge Cup would be a day you’d never forget. Especially when you are a young winger keen to make an impression and earn a regular starting spot in the team.
But that’s not really the case for St Helens’ Eboni Partington, who shone last May as Saints became two-time Challenge Cup winners with an 18-8 victory over Leeds Rhinos at Elland Road.
“Hopefully we can have a repeat of that day,” says Partington who initially joined the St Helens under-19s development squad in 2019 before being invited to train with the first team and handed a debut in the 96-0 Challenge Cup win over Stanningley that year. Having been in and around the squad ever since, 2022 proved a real breakthrough year for Partington, with that sparkling performance in the final being the catalyst.
“The only memory I have from that game is jumping up and down and cheering when we’d won it,” Partington admits. “The rest is all a bit of a blur and I can’t remember my tries or anything else about it, mainly because of the nerves I had on the day.
“But hopefully the nerves won’t be there as much this year, I feel a lot more confident now that I have played a lot more games since and am playing with such a great group of girls.
“I do still get nervous before a game, but I have learnt to compose them a lot better now and, to be honest, I actually like getting those nerves because they make me work harder, run harder and want it more.
“Being on such a big stage does mean the pressure is on a bit more, but we just want to go out there and enjoy ourselves. If you are enjoying what you’re doing, it brings the best out of you and hopefully that will show on the pitch.
“We all just want to win, and that will take a team effort. But if I can get another try - well, what a day that would be if I could score at Wembley.”
The Saints squad has changed a lot since last year, with many star names - including Amy Hardcastle, who will line up against her former team today - moving on and coach Matty Smith putting his faith in a number of up-and-coming stars.
But many stalwarts of the game remain, with the likes of Jodie Cunningham, Emily Rudge and Faye Gaskin all getting to experience game day at Wembley Stadium - something that would have seemed impossible to them when they first started playing the game many years ago.
So, as daunting as the prospect of running out under the famous Wembley arch to secure a third successive cup might be for some, for Partington it’s fitting that some of those players who have helped the game grow so much over the past few years, are also the ones that get to enjoy its biggest party.
“With the squad we’ve got and the players we’ve got, we have a lot of leaders in our side so I don’t feel like we need to be nervous,” adds the 20-year-old, whose form last year has earned her the number three shirt at Saints and an England call-up in 2023.
“We’re all backing each other and we’ve all just been really excited to keep training and working hard for this game, so we can get out there and just play.
“With lots of leaders, it means we have a lot of level heads who can go out, step up and do the job we need them to do. That's what we did in the semi-final to get here.
“To make it three in a row with this team would be something special. We have been quite underestimated by some in the past, and we’ve maybe underestimated ourselves, but we have shown that we can step up and play in the hard games.
“We’ve shown before that we can keep this cup and if we can go out there and smash it on the day again, we can keep it for even longer.
“Having people like Jodie and Emily around us lifts us as a squad and when we listen to them before we go out on the pitch it makes you want to perform for them.
“When you see them out there covered it cuts, you want to take a ball in for them, and want to work hard for them.
“They’ve done all the hard work over the years to get us, and the game, to where we are now, so hopefully we can now go out there and win it for them.”
This article is taken from the official Betfred Challenge Cup Finals programme, which includes the 1895 Cup - the programme can be purchased online here.
Tickets for this weekend's showpiece finals day at Wembley are available until kick-off via Rugby League Tickets.
