Marc Sneyd relishing pressure as Hull FC bid to retain Challenge Cup
Wednesday 23 August 2017 10:47, UK
Marc Sneyd is confident he will deliver another match-winning performance at Wembley in Saturday's Challenge Cup final against Wigan.
The scrum-half won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match in Hull's thrilling 12-10 victory over Warrington in 2016 and has continued to show his appetite for big games in the Black and Whites' run to this year's final.
Sneyd's kicking game was key to last year's success and Hull will rely on him heavily again as they aim to become the first side in the club's history to retain the trophy.
But that expectation does not faze the 26-year-old.
"I genuinely enjoy the pressure," he said. "The more pressure that gets put on me, the best it brings out of me.
We want to push and win as many trophies as we can and make Hull FC huge again.
"In big games your half-backs need to control the ball and the speed of the game as much as possible.
"It's something I'm looking forward to trying to do on Saturday.
"Winning the Lance Todd Trophy last year gives me a lot of confidence going back to Wembley.
"If you look at the players who are on that trophy, it's unbelievable to think I'm on there with them now. It gives you a bit of a boost going there again.
"We want to get our hands on that trophy again."
Hull ended their Wembley hoodoo 12 months ago and this year their motivation is proving that success was not a one-off.
"I'm obviously over the moon to be in that history-making team but I don't want to be known as a player in the team that made history and then faded away - we just won one trophy and that's it," Sneyd said.
"We want to push and win as many trophies as we can and make Hull FC huge again."
Unpredictable
The unpredictability of the Hull of 2017 was encapsulated last Friday when they were heavily beaten by Huddersfield at the KCOM Stadium - a performance Sneyd admitted had been "swept under the carpet" as focus quickly switched to Wembley.
But Lee Radford's side have had few issues in big games, beating League Leaders' Shield winners Castleford twice - including in the last eight of the cup - and producing their best performance of the season to dismiss Leeds in the semi-finals.
"The cup brings out the best in us," said Sneyd. "When we're in a cup game we just seem to have a 'do not lose' mentality. It's do or die, you're either through or you're out and done.
"Obviously with the players we've got - Gaz [Gareth Ellis] as captain and Danny Houghton at nine - we've got a lot of people there that will be inspiring the players around them."
Wigan won a record-extending 19th Challenge Cup by beating Hull 16-0 in the 2013 final but Shaun Wane's men have struggled this year in defence of their Super League crown.
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The Warriors' form has picked up in the build-up to Wembley and, like Hull, they are close to full strength.
"Wigan are Wigan, they know how to win a trophy," said Sneyd. "They've won the Challenge Cup more than anybody.
"It's down to us turning up and doing to them what they've done to a lot of teams in the past."
