Saturday (25 July) sees Halifax Panthers take on Leeds Rhinos in a battle for the season’s first piece of silverware in the Betfred Wheelchair Challenge Cup Final.
Though there may be pressure on the Panthers to retain the title, Halifax star Rob Hawkins and his side are cool, calm and collected ahead of the weekend:
“I think myself and the rest of the team are more just going into the game viewing it as just another week,” said Hawkins.
“We know what’s on the line, but we’ve been in these positions before so we’re not really overthinking it at all, we’re just enjoying the week and the run up to the Challenge Cup.
“We know what to do, we know what strengths Leeds have so we’re just working on how we can nullify those strengths and work to put them in our favour more than anything else.”
The pair have come up against one another twice already in the Betfred Wheelchair Super League season, including just last weekend when they faced off in a battle to prepare them for this weekend’s tough Challenge Cup test:
“Last week was probably the better example of how we play.
“We had a good first 30 minutes where we didn’t concede a point to them so if we can have that again and just cut out the errors we’ve had in those games then we should be on for a good game against Leeds.”
A large part of the challenges the Rhinos bring is their squad’s similarities to the Panthers, especially in the strong player bonds they have, having played together for a long period of time.:
“It’s the depth of the players that they have, a lot of them have international experience and players that have been playing there for a very long time so they know how to play the game.
“They know how to work well together, they’re like Halifax in the way that they’ve all been playing together for a number of years so they have that connection with one another."
Though the game’s outcome is uncertain, what is certain is that fans can expect the pair to put on a performance:
“When we first played Leeds this season we only beat them by 4 points.
“Then last weekend we had an even better game where we beat them by 20 so no matter what happens, it is going to be a close game with Leeds.
“Winning by 20 points in a wheelchair game is not a big win like it would be in the running game, for example. 20 points can basically get scored within a matter of minutes if a team aren’t playing consistently so we’re hoping to give the fans a really good spectacle for the wheelchair game and also for a Challenge Cup weekend.
“If we can show these young players that this is a level they can be playing at then it gets them more motivated to join a team or even just improve themselves with their team if they’re already playing.
“It’s always a great thing when we actually are able to motivate and bring on the next generation of players.”
