Wigan and Hull Kr Meet in First Wembley Challenge Cup Final
Hull KR meet Wigan at Wembley on Saturday afternoon in the first Challenge Cup final between the clubs, and the game comes with far more at stake than one trophy. Wigan are chasing a record-extending 22nd final victory, while Hull KR are trying to add to their two Challenge Cup wins after climbing back to rugby league’s top level last year.
Wembley Rivalry Builds
The final is the third consecutive season in which these clubs have met in a major final. Wigan won the 2024 Super League Grand Final, then Hull KR beat them at Old Trafford last year on the way to a historic treble. Now they meet again with Wembley as the setting and another defining result in reach.
That sequence has turned this into more than a one-off cup tie. Wigan and Hull KR are the two most recent champions of Super League and the world after beating NRL opposition in the World Club Challenge, so Saturday’s game sits inside a rivalry that has already produced major titles on both sides.
Radlinski And The Cap
The build-up also exposes the pressure on Wigan’s squad planning. Kris Radlinski said the salary-cap rules make it impossible to pay Noah Farrimond any more money, after pointing to a system that leaves under-21 players on £30,000 or less outside the £2.1m cap.
“It’s an impossible challenge,” Radlinski said. “Noah could get man of the match but there’s nothing within the rules to allow me to pay him any more money.”
That rule shapes the way Wigan can keep emerging players. The club could have as many as 10 academy products in their 17-man squad, with Noah Hodkinson, 20, set for his eighth senior appearance if he plays and Jack Farrimond, also 20, part of the youth group pushing into the final frame.
Wigan Youth, NRL Pressure
The numbers cut across two directions at once. Super League has long struggled to keep its best players from moving to the NRL, where players in a 30-man squad must be paid at least AUS$135,000, roughly £70,000. Radlinski’s complaint was that the same cap structure now makes it harder to hold on to younger, unproven players as well.
For Wigan, that means Saturday is not only about a shot at a 22nd Challenge Cup final victory. It is also a test of whether a club built around academy talent can keep enough of that talent together long enough to turn it into more trophies.
