Leeds Rhinos half-back Danny McGuire has revealed that the pressure involved with winning the Challenge Cup last year has ensured that they can approach this year’s final more relaxed.
McGuire admits that whilst there is always pressure associated with the competition, there is less pressure on them after last year’s success against Castleford – their first in 15 years – and they want to just try and enjoy the occasion.
“The pressure of the Challenge Cup puts a little bit extra on everyone so some of the younger players who haven’t experienced these scenarios before, you do have to pass on a bit of your wisdom so to speak,” he said.
“But I’m trying to stay relaxed; there’s probably less pressure on us after winning it last year and the pressure has lifted a bit, so I just want to look forward to it and try to enjoy the occasion.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves with the way we went about the cup last year and we put all our eggs in that basket. Once we won there was a massive sense of relief, and this year there’s less pressure on us and the monkey is off our back a little bit.
“We’re playing well, we’re pretty confident in what we’re doing and hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy it a little bit more.”
