JODIE CUNNINGHAM says St Helens always have new motivations to retain the Women’s Challenge Cup as they bid for a fifth triumph on the spin.
Saints have held the trophy since getting the better of York City Knights in the 2021 final at Leigh Sports Village.
They have since beaten Leeds Rhinos three years running, once at Elland Road and then twice at Wembley, where they return on Saturday to this time face Wigan Warriors in the final.
Including the club’s previous guise of Thatto Heath Crusaders, they have won seven of the eleven editions of the competition in all.
It’s a mightily impressive run and Saints and England captain Cunningham says they have had different reasons to triumph each time.
“I don’t think we struggle to find motivation at all, especially being at Wembley the last two years. Everything about it felt so good and we were desperate to do that again. It’s the same still now,” she said.
“We’ve got a ton of girls who have experienced it but every year there are people who hear about how incredible the finals were but weren’t part of it, whether than was through injury or not being selected.
“Dani McGifford has been on the sidelines the past two years so my motivation comes from wanting her to experience that, because she deserves it for all her hard work.
“Last year we had Leah (Burke) and Darcy (Stott) who in 2023 had picked up injuries just before the final. Again my drive then was making sure they got that Wembley experience.
“I’ve got so much love and care for my team-mates. That’s where my motivation comes from. As a squad we’re definitely not short of it.”
The competition coming so early in the women’s season each year presents an additional, physical challenge.
“It does make a difference to your pre-season, knowing you have to be at your best quite early in the season in order to win a Challenge Cup final,” added Cunningham.
“That’s one of the first things we spoke about when Dec (Hardman) and Craig (Richards) came in as head coaches, that the first job is to defend the crown.
“It is our crown, we’ve held it for a few years but everyone wants to take it off us. For us it was making sure we firstly got to that final, and then making sure we perform at our best, which I think we’ll need to in order to beat this Wigan side because they’re looking outstanding.
“They’ve got the talent in the squad to significantly beat the big teams. We don’t want to be the next ones they turn over and turn over heavily.
“We need to defend really hard. We’ve got points in us, we know that, but it’s about stopping Wigan scoring points, which is what has come easy to them at the start of the year and has been really impressive.
“Us and Wigan like to throw the ball about most so it will be interesting to see how those two playing styles go up against each other. I think everyone is excited to see how it unfolds. Whatever the result is, I think it’ll be 80 minutes of fantastic women’s rugby league.”
And Cunningham has her fingers crossed that Cup final – and particularly Wembley – experience will prove vital in the end.
She said: “We know what playing at Wembley is like, what the week is like, what the day is like, how it’ll feel. We have got all those experiences which I do think will help us.
“But they (Wigan) are going to be ready for that. I’m hoping it gets to them a little bit, and there’s maybe a slow start, but I imagine they’re preparing well so that doesn’t come into play too much.”