Hull KR vs Leigh Leopards Tips: Leopards To Roar In Challenge Cup Final

The Challenge Cup Final is one of the biggest days in the British sporting calendar for rugby league fans and the 2023 edition is coming our way, live on BBC One at 15:00 on Saturday, August 12th. 

Two of the lesser fancied sides clash to lift the trophy for the first time in a generation in Hull KR and the Leigh Leopards and our resident rugby league nut Billy Grimshaw is on hand to preview the biggest game of the summer in the 13 a side code...

There is nothing like Wembley for rugby league fans, with the history behind the Challenge Cup Final meaning fans of nearly every club in the country have at least one special day down in the capital city etched into their memory. 

Two fan bases that will have to be of a certain vintage to have happy memories of their club venturing to London are those of Hull KR and Leigh. It is the Robins that have tasted a Wembley appearance more recently than the Leythers, although that 2015 final is a day swept under the carpet at Craven Park due to the humiliating 50-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of a rampant Leeds Rhinos.

It is often exclaimed by rugby league’s largely pessimistic group of hardcore fans that the ‘magic’ of the Challenge Cup is now gone, with the big sides monopolising the trophy in recent years and fans of the likes of Wigan, Saints, Warrington and Leeds growing weary of seeing their sides do battle for the gorgeous piece of silverware.

Thankfully in 2023, there will be no ‘giant’ club to be killed by an underdog. Both Hull KR and Leigh have spent time outside the top flight in recent seasons but are having a purple patch unlike anything the clubs’ long-suffering supporters have seen in decades. KR’s last and only Wembley triumph came 43 years ago in 1980, while Leigh were successful in both 1921 and 1971.

Since those halcyon days it has been more feast than famine for fans of each club but their day in the sun is on the horizon and a blockbuster of a game awaits, live on BBC One.

Leigh Leopards -6 @ 11/10 - William Hill

After entering Super League 2023 as one of the favourites for the wooden spoon and relegation, the newly rebranded Leigh Leopards, spearheaded by their flamboyant and free-spending owner Derek Beaumont, have laughed in the face of their critics to enjoy a stunning season. Sitting pretty in third in the table and almost assured of a play-off spot for the first time in the club’s history, the Leopards have recruited brilliantly by mixing a blend of experienced quality Super League stars with a batch of exciting overseas recruits.

A small but select squad has thankfully glided through the season relatively injury-free and Leigh should be close to full strength on Saturday, minus their strike centre Ricky Leutele. In his absence they still have plenty of players that can hurt opposition defences, none more so than Papua New Guinean duo Edwin Ipape out of dummy half and Lachlan Lam (son of coach Adrian) who will guide the team around at half back.

Running off these key pivot players will be the skilful Gareth O’Brien at full back, the reborn stand-off Ben Reynolds and a host of outstanding backs such as Zak Hardaker, Josh Charnley and Tom Briscoe. Leigh have proven winners and, crucially, expert try-scorers in key positions and if they play to their potential they should be too strong for a tough KR team. 

The Leigh forward pack, particularly their opening middle unit of Mulhern, Amone and Asiata, have earned rave reviews all season and will be expected to both play big minutes and lay the platform for their flashy teammates to reap the rewards. With Cup finals often seeing late scores, I expect this one to be tight but the Leopards to always have the upper hand before in the final quarter the class of Leigh beginning to tell and the Hull KR resistance breaking to send the trophy back to Lancashire and confirm the biggest party (all covered by Derek Beaumont in his full leopard suit) the small town of Leigh has ever seen.

Rob Mulhern Man Of The Match @ 25/1 - BetVictor

The winner of the Man of the Match award at Wembley for the Challenge Cup final receives the coveted Lance Todd trophy and is chosen by invited members of the press on final day. Over the years there have been emotional scenes aplenty when with a few minutes to go the winner has been read out on loudspeaker and the winner has heard their name read out and thus their place in rugby league folklore immortalised.

Over the past few seasons, and indeed the Challenge Cup's history, it has been game-breaking halfbacks that have usually picked up the gong. with the exception being wingers who have helped themselves to a hat-full of tries. One such winger was actually Tom Briscoe in the aforementioned 50-0 final of 2015 in which he scored an incredible five tries. He is now a Leopard and KR fans will be having nightmares about him, but I think the value lies in siding with one of the Leigh forwards in what promises to be a gruelling contest.

Both sides won't take a backwards step and a clash I am particularly looking forward to is George King of Hull KR squaring off with Rob Mulhern of the Leopards. Both men were deemed surplus to requirements by basketcase club Warrington in recent seasons but have made the Wolves look rather silly with a spectacular career renaissance. Mulhern in particular has been the form prop in Super League over the past few months and has scooped a couple of man-of-the-match awards in Leigh's televised games on Sky Sports.

Edwin Ipape and Lachlan Lam head the market and if either has their best game they will probably take the Lance Todd award, however, I am willing to side with a forward on the evidence of Chris McQueen taking the award last season as a second rower for Huddersfield and 11 years ago the Wigan prop Jeff Lima was voted man of the match. Mulhern will play huge minutes, perhaps even the full 80, and his stats will stand out. Journalists are often scrambling to get their match report completed at the time of voting and if there is a stats leader they could gain votes, so at a tasty looking 25/1 I am recommending a small wager on the moustached vegan prop forward to become a Lance Todd trophy winner in a famous Leopards victory.