LEEDS RHINOS star Jake Connor has slammed the “dangerous” Challenge Cup scheduling after leading Siddal to the Challenge Cup Second Round.
Siddal overcame Hammersmith Hills Hoists on Saturday evening with an 18-4 victory, but the vast majority of Challenge Cup First Round games had been cancelled due to the weather.
Frost, ice and plummeting temperatures had seen the competition thrown into jeopardy over the weekend, with the Challenge Cup Third Round draw taking place tonight.
As a result of the postponement of 14 of the 17 First Round ties scheduled for the weekend just gone, there will be 31 community teams with an involvement in Tuesday evening’s Third Round draw, in addition to 23 from Championship and League One.
The 20 Second Round ties have each been given a number in the order they were drawn in Goole before Christmas – for example, the winners of BBC Sport’s selected Second Round tie between London Broncos and Goole Vikings will be number 6.
The draw will begin with one ball being drawn to face each of the 12 Betfred Super League clubs – starting with Wakefield Trinity, who return to the elite in 2025 having won the Betfred Championship and the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup last season, and concluding with Wigan Warriors, the Betfred Super League and Challenge Cup holders.
The remaining eight balls will then be drawn in four more ties to complete the line-up of 16 ties for the Third Round, to be played on the weekend of February 7-9.
However, Connor, who has coached Siddal for a number of years, believes Super League clubs should not be entering the draw earlier due to the “dangerous” aspect facing his amateur players.
“I don’t back it, to be honest,” Connor told The Rugby League Hub.
“I don’t believe teams as good as Super League should be in the next round. My guys have had four sessions leading up to this game.
“I know we were playing Hammersmith but we’re playing Midlands in two weeks and they’ve had a full season of prep under their belts and our guys have had four sessions so it’s not really good for our people.
“I believe it’s a bit dangerous, you know, going into it. It is what it is. A couple of them games have ruined our season before with a few injuries and it looks like we could have had one (Christian Ackroyd) then.
“For me it’s a bit too early but it’s what we’ve got to do, isn’t it?”
Fellow amateur side Wath Brow Hornets pulled out of the Challenge Cup prior to their fixture against West Bowling regarding the welfare of their players, apparently citing a conflict between RFL rules – which stipulate a non-contact period for amateur clubs – and the fact that the early rounds of the Challenge Cup are taking place.
And Connor has backed the decision of Wath Brow to do just that, saying: “How are you supposed to get a team prepped in four sessions?
“These guys don’t get paid but they’ve given their Saturdays up to come down here just for the love of the game but when you’re playing a team like Wakefield like we did last year, it was great for the game but one of our guys came on and got his head knocked clean off straight away and missed the next game.
“So it’s kinda dangerous for our players with the limited contact we’ve got to do as well.”
