Panthers aim to exact revenge as they take on Rovers in cup

Almost five months on from last season’s play-off semi-final heartbreak against Featherstone, Halifax Panthers will be looking to avenge that defeat by knocking Rovers out of the Challenge Cup this Sunday, writes Seb Sternik.

On that day, Featherstone showed their class in a comprehensive 42-10 victory at the Millennium stadium. Nevertheless,

Halifax will be hoping to underline their progress when they host their Championship rivals in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup.

Panthers boss Simon Grix acknowledges the challenge posed by the opposition saying: “Featherstone have been the benchmark for a long time. As far as part-time teams go, they’ve got to the stage where they’ve got their own ground, they’re making money from their ground, they’ve got Mark Campbell who has invested in the club for a long time.

“[That] has put them in a good position; they’re a bit of a different beast.

“They’re signing players that probably for most teams in the Championship, none of us can touch to be honest.

“We’ll see how we go but it is definitely a big challenge for us against a team that’s earmarked for promotion. We’ll see how we go.”

Halifax endured a short run in the cup last season after bowing out in the first round against Batley.

The club will instead hope to draw inspiration from their semi-final run of 2019 which saw Fax miss out on a trip to Wembley following a 26-2 defeat to St Helens.

“We’ve had a few good wins in the Challenge Cup,” admitted Grix.

“[We] went out early last year, but previous year we got to the semi against St Helens which was a great experience.”