LAST SEASON’S two-try hero Eboni Partington knows St Helens will have a tough battle on their hands if they are to complete the three-peat in the Challenge Cup.
The now 20-year-old winger was just breaking into the St Helens side when they met Leeds Rhinos at Elland Road in last season’s showpiece finale and got people talking with her second-half tries being crucial in their 18-8 win, which saw them retain the trophy that had also won 12-months earlier.
With only a single point separating the two sides in the Super League table, Saints will certainly face a challenge from Leeds once again, but Partington is confident that they can get the win, especially if they can find the resolve they showed against York Valkyrie in the semi-final.
“There’s not really much to separate us and Leeds going into this game,” said Partington.
“We know that they will run hard and work hard. They are a good team with strengths across the board, but as long as we are on our game, put pressure on them and work hard ourselves, then we can come away with the win.
“We’ve got a lot of leaders in our side, so 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.
“We just need to focus on ourselves and the game could be ours.
“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.”
But it is not just for the club that Partington wants to win on Saturday. To be able to send some of the game’s stalwarts, who have put in so much both on and off the field to get the game to where it is now, away from Wembley victorious is high on her list of priorities.
“Having people like Jodie (Cunningham) and Emily (Rudge) around us lifts us as a squad. When we listen to them before we go out on the pitch it makes you want to perform for them,” she added.
“When you see them out there covered in 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 do the hard work and win it for them.”
