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St Helens can give Nathan Brown Challenge Cup revenge at Huddersfield St Helens can give Nathan Brown Challenge Cup revenge at Huddersfield
(5 months later)
Paul Anderson made his former boss Nathan Brown suffer in his first season as the coach of St Helens, so Sunday's televised Challenge Cup tie at Huddersfield offers the Australian an obvious opportunity for revenge. Paul Anderson made his former boss Nathan Brown suffer in his first season as the coach of St Helens, so Sunday's televised Challenge Cup tie at Huddersfield offers the Australian an obvious opportunity for revenge. Brown does not see it that way, but his Saints have started the season in such scintillating form that their supporters are already sniffing a first Wembley appearance since they completed a rare hat-trick of cup triumphs in 2008. They fell at the first hurdle – the fourth round, when the 14 Super League clubs enter the competition – for the first time in almost two decades last April, with a 26-18 defeat at Hull KR which added to the pressure that had been building on Brown since a 40-4 home humiliation by Anderson's Giants in his first game in charge. But now it is Huddersfield who are struggling, having conceded 29 unanswered points in the second half of a home defeat by Warrington last Sunday which left last season's league leaders in unfamiliar territory in the bottom half. They have suffered another blow with the loss of the England centre Leroy Cudjoe for around six weeks with an ankle injury, whereas Brown's only problem is whether to recall the clutch of senior players who are available again in place of the youngsters who secured a stunning victory against Leeds last Friday night. Kyle Amor will definitely return to the front-row after suspension and Luke Walsh, the Australian scrum-half who was so impressive until he suffered a calf injury three weeks ago, is included in the squad much earlier than initially expected. That is an indication of the importance that leading clubs such as St Helens continue to place on the Challenge Cup, and a possible trip to Wembley, despite the poor attendances the early rounds of the knockout competition have attracted in recent years. There are two other all-Super League ties on Sunday, and while it is hard to see Wakefield Trinity surprising Leeds, at least on the evidence of their capitulation at Hull KR last Sunday, that Rovers performance suggests they could pose a threat to a Warrington team still in the transitional stage – especially with home advantage. The most romantic of Sunday's ties is at Batley where John Kear, one of the few coaches to have won the cup with two different clubs, will face his hometown club Castleford. The Tigers have every reason to fancy a cup run themselves after their impressive start to the Super League season and the same goes for Widnes, who also have an attractive tie against Championship opposition at Halifax.
Brown does not see it that way, but his Saints have started the season in such scintillating form that their supporters are already sniffing a first Wembley appearance since they completed a rare hat-trick of cup triumphs in 2008.
They fell at the first hurdle – the fourth round, when the 14 Super League clubs enter the competition – for the first time in almost two decades last April, with a 26-18 defeat at Hull KR which added to the pressure that had been building on Brown since a 40-4 home humiliation by Anderson's Giants in his first game in charge.
But now it is Huddersfield who are struggling, having conceded 29 unanswered points in the second half of a home defeat by Warrington last Sunday which left last season's league leaders in unfamiliar territory in the bottom half.
They have suffered another blow with the loss of the England centre Leroy Cudjoe for around six weeks with an ankle injury, whereas Brown's only problem is whether to recall the clutch of senior players who are available again in place of the youngsters who secured a stunning victory against Leeds last Friday night.
Kyle Amor will definitely return to the front-row after suspension and Luke Walsh, the Australian scrum-half who was so impressive until he suffered a calf injury three weeks ago, is included in the squad much earlier than initially expected.
That is an indication of the importance that leading clubs such as St Helens continue to place on the Challenge Cup, and a possible trip to Wembley, despite the poor attendances the early rounds of the knockout competition have attracted in recent years.
There are two other all-Super League ties on Sunday, and while it is hard to see Wakefield Trinity surprising Leeds, at least on the evidence of their capitulation at Hull KR last Sunday, that Rovers performance suggests they could pose a threat to a Warrington team still in the transitional stage – especially with home advantage.
The most romantic of Sunday's ties is at Batley where John Kear, one of the few coaches to have won the cup with two different clubs, will face his hometown club Castleford. The Tigers have every reason to fancy a cup run themselves after their impressive start to the Super League season and the same goes for Widnes, who also have an attractive tie against Championship opposition at Halifax.