RHINOS TOO TOUGH FOR THE TIGERS
BLAKE AUSTIN kicked Hull in the guts by booting Warrington into the final of the Coral Challenge Cup.
The Aussie superstar has misfired recently but rediscovered his magic to kick Hull into submission.
Usually it’s his sleight of hand and quick-fire breaks that do the damage, but in torrential rain, Austin decided to repeatedly put the boot in.
It put Hull on the back foot time and again and gutted coach Lee Radford said: “We were second best in that department.
“Every time they put in a good kick they got a result out of it. It is frustrating ADAM CUTHBERTSON hailed his underdogs after they pulled off a shock to defend the women’s Challenge Cup final.
The Tigers are unbeaten at the top of Super League and were big favourites to avenge last year’s final defeat.
But Leeds rattled the life out of them all match and because we had hdd identified fd where their kicks would be placed.”
A Toby King try, courtesy of a cross-field Austin kick, gave Wolves a 50th-minute 16-8 lead but Hull slowly but surely cranked up the pressure.
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Ta y l o r barged over er took a well-deserved 59th-minute lead with a terrific try from joint captain Courtney Hill.
They then hung on with some gritty defence in the face of a bruising late onslaught from Castleford.
Coach Cuthbertson – a prop for the Rhinos’ men’s side – said: “We embraced the underdog tag because it took all the pressure off us.
“We were the underdogs but we have been working under the sticks, while Bureta Faraimo and Jamie Shaul both had efforts disallowed.
They tightened the screw even further when they forced a Wolves drop-out with three minutes to go.
But Mark Minichiello crucially dropped drop the ball and Joe Westerman Wes also coughed up possession, hard all season and we turned up today with true belief that we could win it.
“I am happy to take the underdog tag any week. All that matters is who turns up on the day.”
Castleford drew first blood in the final at the University of Bolton Stadium with a try from loose forward Rhiannon Marshall.
The Tigers handed a dream debut to winger Hollie Dodd, who only celebrated her 16th gifting Warrington another try. Radford added: “I thought it was written in the stars with that drop-out at the end but if you put cheap ball down like that you do not deserve to go to a final.”
Joe Philbin pounced on Westerman’s error to spark wild celebrations in a team that has lost two of the last three Wembley finals.
Coach Steve Price said: “I’m ecstatic for the players. There wasn’t much between the sides but we broke them in the end.
“It was about guts and what our badge represents, and we showed that.” birthday on Friday, and she stood up superbly.
But it was the Rhinos’ two youngsters, 16-year-old Fran Goldthorpe and 17-year-old Caitlin Beevers, who threw down the gauntlet with two first-half tries.
Second rower Tamzin Renouf touched down to make it 10-10 at the break but Hill’s cracker, on the back of a break by prop Dannielle Anderson, won the game for Leeds.