Friday 18 September 2020 16:09, UK
The last two places in this year's Challenge Cup semi-finals will be filled at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday, and we take a look at some talking points ahead of those matches…
The first game of the day is a repeat of last year's final, but it will be the first experience of the Challenge Cup for St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf.
The Australian has experienced knock-out rugby league before, most notably when he oversaw Tonga's run to the semi-finals of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
But this will be his first time involved in a competition where that is the format from start to finish and Woolf is excited to be part of it.
"It's a little bit different to what I've experienced before, that's for sure," Woolf, who recalls centre Mark Percival to his squad for the clash with Warrington, said.
"I've always said in Australia you know the history and importance of the Challenge Cup, and I've always kept a close eye on how it does run, who wins it and that kind of thing.
"It carries a lot of prestige, so it's something I've always kept a close eye on, but I've always watched with a little bit of intrigue how a competition runs parallel to another competition. It's something I've never been a part of, so I'm really excited."
The Wolves triumphed 18-4 at Wembley in last year's final and also defeated St Helens 19-0 in Super League this year back in February.
"We watched some video the other day of our game against them at the start of the year - it felt like it was last season," Warrington prop Mike Cooper said.
"The game has changed so much since covid and I actually think the speed of the game suits both teams now.
"We've had some really good battles with St Helens over the years, I've been a part of many of them and I've no doubt Saturday will be another one."
Steve Price's side are still without Gareth Widdop and Tom Lineham is unavailable as he starts an eight-match ban, but co-captains Chris Hill and Jack Hughes, plus Daryl Clark, are all named in the 21-man squad.
This time last week, Wigan were preparing for an early start ahead of flying out to France on the day of their Super League match away to Catalans Dragons.
It proved worth it in the end though as Adrian Lam's men returned to winning ways with an emphatic 28-12 win in front of a crowd of around 5,000 at Stade Gilbert Brutus.
This week, the Warriors make the relatively short trip down the road to Salford for their Cup quarter-final against Hull FC and Lam was delighted with how his players rose to the fore in strange circumstances.
"It was a really tough job to get that done as a lot of clubs will see between now and the end of the season," Lam told the Golden Point Vodcast.
"It was a 4.45am wake-up for the squad to get out on the bus...and we were sitting around in the ground for a long time.
"But I thought our attitude was great, I thought we turned up to play and played a fair bit of rugby against them. At 30 degrees it was a pretty tough day, but we got the result we needed."
Wigan could welcome captain Sean O'Loughlin back into the side for the first time since February, having missed his side's four games prior to lockdown due to injury and sitting out the trip to France as a precautionary measure after a family member showed covid-19 symptoms.
Hull FC, meanwhile, are without full-back Jamie Shaul, Josh Jones and Albert Kelly, although Marc Sneyd comes back into the team in Kelly's place after recovering from a knee injury.
Sneyd won the Lance Tood Trophy when the Black and Whites lifted the Challenge Cup three years ago and interim head coach Andy Last, who was on the staff for their triumphs in 2016 and 2017, hopes those memories will help the side lift their game for their third match in nine days.
"Hopefully the emotion of the Cup and what it means to us as a club and as a team will spark them into putting in another energetic performance because that is what will be needed against Wigan," Last said.
"I expect a big performance from our guys, it's something that brings the best out of us."
