ST HELENS captain Jodie Cunningham hopes experience can trump youth as Leeds Rhinos stand between her side and a sixth successive Challenge Cup final.
After four wins on the bounce – three of them against Sunday’s semi-final opponents in Doncaster – Saints lost their grip on the cup last season when Wigan beat them at Wembley.
The only thing that hurts serial winner Cunningham more than losing a final is not reaching it at all.
“The more experience you have of big games and lifting trophies, the more you want that to continue,” she said.
“It then feels like a disappointment if you miss out on a final. This particular group of players have been part of most finals and lifted a lot of trophies.”
But there is no sense of entitlement, especially after grabbing no silverware in 2025.
“We have worked so hard in pre-season, we know we’ve put the graft in, which is all we can control,” added Cunningham.
“We’ve got talent in this squad, and we’ve got so much experience. With that hard work, we’ve put ourselves in a good position to get to finals and hopefully lift trophies.
“We’re motivated off the back of last year to go and hopefully perform on the big stage.”
However, she said of Leeds: “You can never write them off.
“They’ve lost a few players like Bethan Dainton, who was massive for them, going to Wigan, and a couple of players (Bella Sykes and Izzy Northrop) have gone to Australia.
“They’ve lost some experience, but they have such a great Under 19 and youth system. We’ll see some exciting talent there who will cause problems.”