THE 2026 Rugby League season will start with a bang this weekend with the opening stage of this year’s Betfred Challenge Cup.
Arguably the top match will be among the last of the first-round ties to be played, when last season’s National Conference League minor premiers Siddal (who lost 8-0 to West Hull in the Grand Final after having been beaten by Hunslet ARLFC in the 2024 decider) entertain Waterhead Warriors, who finished fourth.
A mouthwatering Sunday clash is in prospect and it’s no surprise the game has been chosen by The Sportsman for live coverage.
Siddal performed a double over Waterhead in 2025, winning 30-10 in Halifax and 30-12 in Oldham, but coach Jake Connor, the Leeds star and Super League Man of Steel, insisted: “Last year’s results are irrelevant.
“We will, in any case, be without a number of regulars, but this being Siddal, there are naturally players ready and able to step in.
“Waterhead are a good team and, like us, are very much based on local lads. But we’re at home, which is an obvious advantage.”
The 31-year-old, who was elevated to the top role at Siddal in the autumn after a couple of years on the coaching staff – and who coached Ovenden to a BARLA Yorkshire Cup final while still a young professional – continued: “We began training last Saturday (January 3), which is unusual for us as we’ve usually started in November or December.
“I wanted to give the lads a bit of a break this time, they’ve had a couple of very tough seasons, so I wanted them to recharge and get their hunger back.”
Waterhead coach Keith Brennan admitted: “We learnt, in our two games last year against Siddal, that they give you nothing. We were camped on their line at our place but they kept us out and then broke away and scored.
“They had a great season, but they’d have probably swapped it for winning the Grand Final. They must have been so disappointed to be so consistent and then to have missed out in the final itself.
“Jon Perks and I have been in place as coaches for around ten years. When we took over we were coaching the Under 16s, then the first team was without a head coach, so we took over.
“Our Under 18s and Under 16s simply had to play at open-age, there was no other option, but we’ve risen from there, we’ve gone well in the top tier in the last twelve months, and we’ve learned that to beat the top teams you have to take your opportunities.”
Round one
Saturday, January 10: Blackbrook v GB Police (2.00pm); Brighouse Rangers v Lock Lane (1.30pm); Heworth v RAF (1.30pm); Hunslet ARLFC v York Acorn (1.30pm); King Cross Park v West Hull (2.00pm); Orrell St James v Oldham St Annes (1.30pm); Rochdale Mayfield v Ince Rose Bridge (1.30pm, BBC iPlayer); Royal Navy v Hammersmith Hills Hoists (1.00pm); Telford Raiders v London Chargers (1.00pm); Thatto Heath Crusaders v Seaton Rangers (2.00pm); Stanningley v Dewsbury Moor Maroons (1.30pm); Wigan St Judes v Leigh Miners Rangers (2.00pm); Woodhouse Warriors v Mirfield Spartans (1.30pm).
Sunday, January 11: Bedford Tigers v Medway Dragons (2.30pm); British Army v Wests Warriors (1.30pm); Broncos (NI) v Aberavon Fighting Irish (1.30pm); Siddal v Waterhead Warriors (1.30pm) – The Sportsman.