Yates’ verdict: Why St Helens Challenge Cup heartbreak could be good for the game

Quite understandably, Saints’ players and fans will still be licking their wounds after Saturday’s Challenge Cup semi-final exit at the hands of Leigh Leopards. Wigan Warriors and their followers will be in the same frame of mind after they, too, bowed out of the competition to Hull Kingston Rovers 24 hours later.

Both were shock results and ended all hopes of a mouth-watering St Helens-Wigan Warriors derby at Wembley next month. But donning my neutral hat, I believe a final between a couple of ‘no-hopers’ will be a massive boost for the sport in general and a sign that the gap between clubs is starting to  narrow.

Let’s hope that is true because, if you study results in recent years in both the Super League  and the Challenge Cup, they clearly illustrate that the so-called top dogs invariably collect the major pieces of silverware and turn both competitions into something akin to a closed shop.

But underdogs Leigh and Hull Kingston Rovers have bucked the trend by reaching Wembley - the Leopards for the first time since winning the trophy at the expense of Leeds in 1971 and the Robins runners-up to the Loiners in 2015.

Now the one million dollar question is: Who will win the trophy? On the evidence of the two semi-finals, it looks likely to be a closely run affair but my money is on Leigh to lift the iconic trophy. And talking of betting, anyone who had placed cash on a Leigh-Hull KR showpiece will have picked up a pretty penny over the weekend.

🏉 Saints’ bid to reach the final, however ended in defeat against their neighbours and already fickle fans on different websites are calling for a change in personnel, including showing head coach Paul Wellens the exit door. What a load of rubbish! The lad has only been in the job five minutes and deserves the support of every fan.

Admittedly, league results in 2023 have not matched those of the past few years but remember, while St Helens also fell at the Challenge Cup semi-final hurdle to Wigan Warriors last year, they went on to win the Old Trafford Grand Final and there is no reason why they can’t do it again to clinch an unprecedented five titles in succession.

🏉 More woe for Saints, who are likely to be without Agnatius Passi for a significant period of time after the Tongan forward suffered a bad injury against Leigh. Wellens said: " I think he has had his knee blown to smithereens."

🏉 I think it would be a nice gesture if Leigh’s ebullient owner Derek Beaumont invites members of the 1971 winning team to the final. Some have passed away but the likes of St Helens-born player coach Alex Murphy and Tony Barrow are still around today and will relish the chance to meet old team-mates once more.