THE Challenge Cup has been part of the rugby league calendar since 1896.
Since then, the Wigan Warriors have won the competition the most times with 22 victories to their name.
However, in recent times, the cup has undergone a bit of a dilemma with proposed changes on the floor from new stakeholders IMG.
Last year, Tottenham Hotspur hosted the Challenge Cup Final with Wembley unavailable, and there was great support from those that went to that showpiece event to perhaps experiment with other venues instead of Wembley.
For St Helens head coach Paul Wellens, however, he still wants Wembley to be at the heart of the cup.
“Wembley is a special place to play, it’s an iconic stadium and it’s the national stadium,” Wellens said.
“There are arguments both ways. If we’re being honest in recent years, Challenge Cup finals would sell out no problem in years gone by. What we have struggled with is in recent years is to take the amount of numbers down to Wembley to sell it out.
“They have to look into the reasons why that is as a game and do some research. They need to connect with fans as to why we don’t get the same amount of fans we used to do. If it is a location thing then we should look at maybe doing something about.”
That being said, Wellens believes that facts need to be ascertained before any proposed move can occur.
“We can’t throw the Wembley trip in the bin because of a few years of where we haven’t filled it out. It’s special and I had the privilege to play there myself. We need to glean the facts and see how we can move forward successfully as a sport.
“I haven’t had any discussions or being part of any wider discussion about how the Challenge Cup will look moving forward.
“What I do know is it is one of the more historic competitions in world sport and it is something that for a long time has been a mainstay in the rugby league calendar.
“It attracts huge support and a wider audience, so it’s important that we if do anything with the Challenge Cup that we do our research and make decisions that are for the betterment of the competition itself.”
Wellens did explain that he would be happy to be involved in talks, but that he would like to see the competition continue with its knockout status.
“The real traditionalist in me would say you would retain its knockout status. You can look into arguments over why to change it, but I don’t sit here at this moment with a clear idea on how it should look because I’m not privy to all the facts in terms of participation and numbers going down there.
“I would be happy to take part in discussions and look into it a bit more but it’s something I haven’t been too caught up in.”
Should Super League sides enter the Challenge Cup in an earlier round?
“The nostalgia of the cup creates a sub plot, I know we were fortunate to go to Halifax and we went to Whitehaven last year.
“They were wonderful experiences to visit lower league clubs that are passionate about rugby league and that adds to the excitement of playing in the Challenge Cup.
“But what I always stress and what we have to be mindful of here is that there are only 52 weeks in the year.
“When you factor in the 29 rounds of rugby plus the Challenge Cup, plus the playoffs and internationals, you run out of space and time.
“It’s the game’s best players who are pressured with the highest demands. In my opinion, if we go down that route, we will be asking for far too much of them.”
Has rugby league taken the Cup for granted?
“I wouldn’t want to accuse anyone of anything as I don’t know enough about what goes on in terms of discussions.
“Maybe we have taken it for granted a little bit and then that can dilute what it means to everybody. You talk to us about the Challenge Cup and we remember all the finals and special occasions of the past.
“The challenge is to create more of them. How we best do that moving forward, I will let others decide.”
