Wigan and Hull KR meet in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley on Saturday afternoon for the first time, with the clubs’ latest showdown carrying an extra edge because Wigan may lean heavily on academy graduates. Noah Hodkinson, 20, could be one of them, and if he plays it would be just his eighth senior appearance for the club.
That is why the final matters beyond the trophy itself. Wigan are chasing a record-extending 22nd Challenge Cup final victory, while Hull KR are trying to add a third cup triumph to a season that already included a historic treble last year. These two sides are also the most recent champions of both Super League and the World Club Challenge, and they arrive at Wembley after trading blows in the last two seasons: Wigan beat Hull KR in the 2024 Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford, before Hull KR got the better of Wigan in last year’s final at the same ground.
The wrinkle around youth selection has turned the final into a test of squad-building as much as match-day nerve. Wigan’s 17 could include as many as 10 academy products, and the club’s willingness to trust them has been part of the discussion ahead of Wembley. The issue is that Super League rules allow clubs to exclude some under-21 players who earn £30,000 or less from the £2.1m salary cap, which can leave teams able to keep young talent on relatively modest deals even when those players are carrying major responsibility.
Kris Radlinski said the system leaves clubs in a bind. “It’s an impossible challenge,” he said, adding that “Noah could get man of the match but there’s nothing within the rules to allow me to pay him any more money.” His point goes to a problem Super League has known for years, with its best players often leaving for the NRL, where anyone in a 30-man squad must be paid at least AUS$135,000, about £70,000. Now the worry is that younger, unproven players are also taking the same gamble, either by heading to Australia or by walking away from the sport altogether.
Wigan’s immediate task is simple: win Wembley and keep pace with a rivalry that has already produced a Super League final, a Challenge Cup final and now a third straight season of major final football. The longer question is less tidy. If players such as Hodkinson and Jack Farrimond are good enough to decide a final, how long can a club keep asking them to do it before richer options elsewhere start to look more attractive?
