Halifax Panthers enjoyed a memorable day at Wembley last season winning the 1895 Cup, but they know that their rivals will be working hard to prevent them repeating the success this year.
WHEN you go into any competition as reigning champions there is a certain amount of pressure on you as everyone wants to be the one to knock you off your perch.
But when you go into said competition as favourites to top the group stages and automatically qualify for the knock-out stages, that pressure increases.
That is exactly the situation Halifax Panthers find themselves in as they prepare to kick off their defence of the 1895 Cup.
A new structure this season means they will have to win more games this year if they are to repeat their Wembley exploits of 2023. But that is a challenge Adam O’Brien and the rest of his Panthers teammates are ready for.
“Whoever wins a trophy in any sport, everyone else wants to beat them the next year and that will be no different for us,” said O’Brien, who featured from the bench in last season’s showpiece finale while on loan from Huddersfield Giants.
“So there is some pressure on us, but with the players we have brought in we’re looking strong and we want a big year.
“Finny (Liam Finn) has come in as coach and he wants to take the club to trophies so for us that journey starts with the opening game against Oldham. We’re not thinking of it as a warm-up game or friendly, we’re in a cup competition and that is a cup game. Really we’ve only got two chances, if we lose our group fixtures we’re out of it and that’s it done.
“On paper Oldham and Rochdale are League One sides, but they both have some really good players in their squads so they are both going to be really good contests for us.
“We certainly won’t rock up to those games thinking of them as League One sides so we should win, it doesn’t work like that in rugby league.
“It often comes down to whoever turns up on the day with the best attitude and wanting to win will come away with the result. So that’s what we need to do – turn up with the best attitude we can have and hopefully we’ll get the results. If we’re on our game we know can do it.
“It’s not ideal that we don’t have a home game or even a game in Yorkshire, but that’s no excuse. At the end of the day, all we can do is control what we can control.
“We have to go to Oldham and Rochdale, perform and do what we need to do to get the wins. There is no point using energy thinking about something that we cannot change, we just have to get on with it, focus on the games and then hopefully when the league season comes around we are ready to rock in that.
“It is a privilege to be in this Cup and the way it is set up this year it’s great that it’s more of a competition in its own right. Winning it last year was a massive honour for the club and players, and it would be unbelievable to do that again.
“Walking out at Wembley again is in the back of all our minds and I don’t see why we can’t put ourselves in the position to do it again.”
Despite being given a scare in the dying seconds thanks to a quite extraordinary try from Batley Bulldogs’ Elliot Kear, Halifax held on to claim a 12-10 victory in August’s memorable final.
Many memories were made that day and now O’Brien wants to create many more – and not just for him.
“It was an unbelievable day,” he added.
“I have played in Super League for most of my career and that was one of the highlights of my time in the game so far.
“Not many players can say they’ve played at Wembley, I know it wasn’t the Challenge Cup Final, but still, playing in a cup final there was something special.
“It was an enjoyable game to be involved in, and it was definitely exciting for the fans watching.
“After Batley’s first chip across the field after about 10 passes, I just put my head in my hands and looked down – I just couldn’t watch. After they’d scored and they were lining up the conversion from the touchline my head was down again and it was a very nervous time. But when a few of our boys started running onto the pitch I knew we’d done it.
“The adrenaline rush at that point was unbelievable.
“Our families were all there too and we all made memories for life, so it would be great to do it all again.
“My little boy Ethan still talks about it all the time and asks if we’ll get another medal this year. It gave him some great memories so I would love to make more for him this year.”
Since that game, O’Brien, who had previously spent seven seasons with the Giants, has made the permanent switch across West Yorkshire trading a full-time Super League career for the part-time game and a new job away from rugby.
But he is grateful for the fact that a big day out in the capital is still a possibility for teams outside of the top flight.
“It’s a great advert for the Championship that you can play in it and still have the chance to experience Wembley,” added O’Brien, who has set up his own cleaning company since the move.
“I know people might think ‘Oh, it’s only the Championship’, but at the end of the day I am back smiling and I am enjoying my rugby week in, week out.
“We’ve got guys who work all sorts of different jobs – plumbers, joiners, delivery drivers, electricians, builders, everything – but for one weekend we get the chance to go down to Wembley together, pull on our kits on and play in that stadium.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity – you just can’t write it.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 493 (February 2024)
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