The pre-game nervousness and excitement doesn’t go away for Warrington Wolves hooker Sam Powell, as he prepares for another Challenge Cup semi-final.
The 32-year-old, despite his decorated career, is still yet to tick off a win at Wembley and his Warrington side are 80 minutes away from a repeat visit after losing 18-8 to his former club Wigan in last year’s final.
The Wolves take on Leigh Leopards at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Sunday.
Powell said: “It was our biggest disappointment last season. We got to Wembley and just didn’t perform the way we did all season. We looked like a team that was inexperienced and we played like that. It’s going to be a tough game the weekend.
“We’ve not started the season well, we’d have liked a few more wins, but just for this week we can park that and if we can put in a good performance, we could be walking out at Wembley again.
“Fans just want to win, and no one wants to win more than me. The atmosphere at St Helens will be huge, Leigh will travel well, our fans always travel well and come warm up time it’ll be exciting.
“I’ll be nervous come four o’clock, about me getting my performance right, thinking about my first actions. When you hear the crowd roar, it does bring the excitement.
“You never lose that pre-game nervousness and excitement, because it’s the unknown. You don’t know what’s coming. It’s brilliant, I’ll miss it when I’m done!”
Although part of the Wigan squad in the seasons the Warriors won the 2013 and 2022 Challenge Cups, he missed 2022 through suspension and wasn’t selected at Wembley in 2013 against Hull.
In the four cup semi-finals Powell has played in, he’s won two and lost two, including victory for Warrington against Huddersfield 12 months ago.
