Sat 30th May : RL Challenge Cup Final : Hull Kingston Rovers v Wigan Warriors KO. 3.00pm (BBC)

[Old Frightful]

Discuss the RL Challenge Cup Final between Hull Kingston Rovers and Wigan Warriors here.

Please don't accuse match officials of deliberate bias or cheating, or your posts will be removed and your account may be banned without further warning.

Seeing as it's already Wednesday, I thought it best to put an early pre match thread up to discuss the biggest domestic game of the 2026 season thus far.

 

[Old Frightful]

Can life in Hull become any more insufferable after recent unrelenting taunting from our East Hull friends?

If they do back to back RL Cup wins then very probably.

Let's just hope they don't...

[colin galbraith]

Various travel problems getting to Wembley this year will increase calls to move the cup final north. 

[Gooleboy]

44 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

Can life in Hull become any more insufferable after recent unrelenting taunting from our East Hull friends?

If they do back to back RL Cup wins then very probably.

Let's just hope they don't...

I hope the do after what Peet did last week with his team selection.

[colin galbraith]

8 minutes ago, Gooleboy said:

I hope the do after what Peet did last week with his team selection.

Last week neither side played their full strength team 

[Dunbar]

Hope Wigan aren't too rusty having not played for 15 days.

[Fevrover]

3 hours ago, colin galbraith said:

Last week neither side played their full strength team 

There was a lot more Wigan players rested compared to KR.

Edited May 27 by Fevrover

[Loiner]

3 hours ago, colin galbraith said:

Last week neither side played their full strength team 

Who did Rovers leave out ?

[StandOffHalf]

Not keen on a Wiganer reffing a final involving the Pies.

Hoping for a good contest.

[Padge]

4 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Not keen on a Wiganer reffing a final involving the Pies.

Hoping for a good contest.

Why, refs couldn't care less who wins.

[WN83]

32 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Not keen on a Wiganer reffing a final involving the Pies.

Hoping for a good contest.

It didn't do JWH much harm in the Grand Final last year, so I wouldn't worry too much. 

[StandOffHalf]

30 minutes ago, Padge said:

Why, refs couldn't care less who wins.

I just think it would be a better look to have a ref from another place.

[StandOffHalf]

2 minutes ago, WN83 said:

It didn't do JWH much harm in the Grand Final last year, so I wouldn't worry too much. 

Did he do something in the Grand Final that should have been a card? I seem to recall him getting a ban after the game, but I can't remember the incident.

[Old Frightful]

40 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Not keen on a Wiganer reffing a final involving the Pies.

Hoping for a good contest.

I'm the same.

It would be better with a Wigan ref, Wigan touch judges, Wigan video ref, Wigan match commisioner.....

[Padge]

8 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I just think it would be a better look to have a ref from another place.

So the cup final should have an inferior ref because he comes from Strathclyde and can't be seen as being close to either side.

[WN83]

13 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Did he do something in the Grand Final that should have been a card? I seem to recall him getting a ban after the game, but I can't remember the incident.

He got two separate charges/bans, so it's safe to assume he probably should've faced some action in the game. He added a lovely unpunished elbow to the head of Nsemba, to help get a quick play the ball away, leading to the Litten try also but that's not to take away from the HKR win, they more than deserved it.

It does however highlight that nobody should really let the ref being from Wigan worry them. They have good days and bad but I very much doubt they're biased one way or another. 

Edited May 27 by WN83

[StandOffHalf]

40 minutes ago, WN83 said:

He got two separate charges/bans, so it's safe to assume he probably should've faced some action in the game. He added a lovely unpunished elbow to the head of Nsemba, to help get a quick play the ball away, leading to the Litten try also but that's not to take away from the HKR win, they more than deserved it.

It does however highlight that nobody should really let the ref being from Wigan worry them. They have good days and bad but I very much doubt they're biased one way or another. 

I didn't think there was much in the incident on Nsemba at the time, but I haven't seen either incident back.

I'd prefer a neutral ref - just to make things look more professional. Hope Moore has a good game.

 

[StandOffHalf]

58 minutes ago, Padge said:

So the cup final should have an inferior ref because he comes from Strathclyde and can't be seen as being close to either side.

Don't think there's a ref from Strathclyde in SL.

[StandOffHalf]

1 hour ago, Old Frightful said:

I'm the same.

It would be better with a Wigan ref, Wigan touch judges, Wigan video ref, Wigan match commisioner.....

Are you going to watch? Hope it's not torture for you.

[Old Frightful]

5 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

Are you going to watch? Hope it's not torture for you.

Of course I will be watching, whether it's torture or not is dependent on how the game goes.

Our noisy neighbours have had rather a lot to shout about of late, and this at a time when Hull FC haven't.

So I'm sure all of my East Hull friends on here won't mind if I say I hope their team gets a reet shellacking.

[Grimmy]

7 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

Don't think there's a ref from Strathclyde in SL.

But there are three full time refs from Wigan, and Wigan have regularly made finals. Is it a good idea to rule out a significant number of options for reffing the final? How long until they get accused of making sure that Wigan lose in the semis so they have a shot at the final? You either trust they're impartial or it all falls apart IMO. Until we recruit robots you can always find a reason to think they would be biased if you're inclined to do so.

[StandOffHalf]

1 minute ago, Grimmy said:

But there are three full time refs from Wigan, and Wigan have regularly made finals. Is it a good idea to rule out a significant number of options for reffing the final? How long until they get accused of making sure that Wigan lose in the semis so they have a shot at the final? You either trust they're impartial or it all falls apart IMO. Until we recruit robots you can always find a reason to think they would be biased if you're inclined to do so.

For me, yes.

[Grimmy]

4 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

For me, yes.

We could call it 'the Alibert rule'

[Worzel]

2 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

 

So I'm sure all of my East Hull friends on here won't mind if I say I hope their team gets a reet shellacking.

After enduring 2015, I think I’ve served my time and never deserve another one of those. Losing I can handle. That, less so. 

[WN83]

8 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

 

I'd prefer a neutral ref - just to make things look more professional. Hope Moore has a good game.

 

I would as well but I get that it must be difficult for the RFL currently. They clearly think Liam Moore is the best ref and they want the best ref on the biggest games. They trust those guys to be professional and impartial and I'm absolutely certain they are but it doesn't stop arguments from both sides.

I can't lie, I watch these 'Wigan refs' on our games and the frustrated fan in me says they're trying their best not to look like they're favoring Wigan and then I come home from a game and see all the social media comments that the Wigan ref gave Wigan everything. They can't really win, so it would be good to try and avoid that by putting a ref on the game that isn't from either town/city but they just want to choose the best and I get that. 

Liam Moore won't decide the game on Saturday, I'm certain of that anyway.