‘Challenge Cup wait has been too long’
LIAM: ‘UNACCEPTABLE THAT WARRIORS HAVEN’T WON TROPHY FOR EIGHT YEARS’
WIGAN’S eight-year wait without a Challenge Cup title is ‘unacceptable,’ according to the only man left at the Warriors from the side who last lifted rugby league’s most prestigious trophy.
Liam Farrell was brought up on a healthy diet of Challenge Cup success, having grown up in the midst of Wigan’s eight successive Wembley wins in the 1980s and 1990s.
So few men are better positioned to concede that he can feel the pressure of the supporters on his back growing each and every year the Warriors fall short.
“If we’re not involved in winning things here, you feel that pressure,” he admits. “We’ve got high expectations surrounding us, and the Challenge Cup is bigger than them all.
“It’s unacceptable for us to not be involved with winning it for eight years.
“There’s pressure on us, but we’ve got some hungry players who are desperate for some silverware.”
Farrell is the only player left from the team that defeated Hull FC 16-0 in that infamous rain-soaked final of 2013, and while Wigan have been back to Wembley since then, they came up short against the same opposition in 2017.
“I was thinking over the weekend that it’s definitely been too long,” he said. “Especially with the history we’ve got and the special teams that have played in this competition. We fell short in 2017, but I’m trying to look ahead and make sure we get back there this year.”
Wigan coach Adrian Lam, a winner of the tournament with the Warriors as a player in 2002, admitted earlier this week that the cup is high on his agenda, particularly after the disappointment of last year’s semifinal defeat to eventual winners Leeds Rhinos.
The Warriors’ bid to end their eight-year wait to lift the cup begins tomorrow night at York – and despite Wigan going into the game as heavy favourites against the Championship side, Farrell admits the fact last year’s cup heartache is still fresh in his memory will act as ample motivation not to take James Ford’s side lightly.
“There’s a lot of experience in that York team – we know it isn’t going to be an easy game,” Farrell admitted.
“That defeat to Leeds last year was probably the turning point in our season. Leeds bullied us, and we didn’t want that to happen again. It was a rough day, but we’re focussed on going one step further this year.”