Call of London! How Wigan Warriors, Hull KR and St Helens bid for Wembley immortality in Challenge Cup final | Rugby League News

Wembley Way is once again flooded with football fans from every corner of the league, all dreaming of seeing their team immortalized on that iconic turf. For rugby league’s elite, the same shot at immortality comes around every year.

Bolton Wanderers, Hull City and Notts County hold the chance to give their fans a day to remember in north-west London.

They fought hard all year, and in the end they claimed what their supporters dared to dream.

The story of rugby league is a little different.

Since 1896, rugby league’s most historic competition has seen all levels of the sport battle to reach London. Of course, it’s always Super League’s top two teams who make it here, chasing the first of the three major trophies on offer throughout each season.

As in 2024, Wigan Warriors and Hull KR will meet in the men’s final this year.

Outside the stadium five rugby league legends are immortalized in a bronze statue. Eric Ashton, Billy Boston, Martin Offiah, Alex Murphy and Gus Reisman stand tall as symbols of what the 34 players who can take the field aspire to be.

They are looking to be immortalized at Wembley; Rugby league style.

Between them, these two teams have lifted every major trophy the sport has to offer since 2023. Wigan completed the treble in 2024 and Hull KR matched the feat in 2025.

They’ve spent three years bickering, outmaneuvering and outplaying each other, and once again they’ve earned themselves a shot at silverware – a rivalry that’s steadily become one of the sport’s most compelling.

Wigan head coach Matt Peat’s only defeat in a major final was at the hands of the Robins in the Grand Final in October. Pete went back down the tunnel into a situation he had never been presented with before. He had to address his players after the loss. It’s a speech he doesn’t even want to give at Wembley.

Meanwhile, the Robins endured their final heartbreak before finally setting sail, with Mikey Lewis’s conversion in the 2025 Challenge Cup final delivering their first major trophy since 1895. Yes, you read that correctly.

Willie Peters’ side went from almost men to the real deal and emerged from it as a formidable force. They have experienced it all, climbed to the top of Everest and now want to experience that height again.

For the first time, both sides have experienced a major final defeat at the hands of the other and will do everything to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

They are clawing their way to the top and first stop is Wembley. 80 minutes in London will decide who strikes first between the Robins and the Warriors.

A major rivalry is fueled by emotion

The women’s final between St Helens and Wigan Warriors will be just as emotionally charged, as the competition’s two dominant forces meet once again on one of the game’s biggest stages.

St Helens Challenge Cup Specialists won four in a row from 2021-2024. Then, Wigan came to destroy their team and they did it in some style in 2025 with a 42-6 win over their old foes.

The new kids on the block made their mark by winning the Challenge Cup, Grand Final and League Leaders Shield.

What works for the saints now? To show that they can best their neighbors once more.

With a recent announcement, bets are up for St. Helens as well.

St Helens captain Jody Cunningham and vice-captain Emily Roose will both retire from rugby league at the end of the 2026 season.

Lifelong best friends and two of England’s most capped female players, Cunningham and Roose, both 34, will meet in Saturday’s Challenge Cup final against Wigan at Wembley.

The Saints duo went to school together and have been playing alongside each other since 2005. They will bow out after a brilliant career.

What a way to bow out with another win at Wembley, beating a team that has been better than them throughout 2025, with a reminder that they are certainly still a team full of star talent.

Wigan, however, have worked hard over the years to maintain their run and retain the trophy.

Both of these teams know how to win at Wembley. Wigan do not know defeat.

Two of these four sides will forever make their mark on the iconic turf. The two of them will shake the mud off their studs and push the sting of defeat to the back of their minds as they turn their attention to the rest of the season.

Either way, London calls – it’s up to them who answers.

Sky Sports Every game in the Super League will again be shown live this season – with two matches from each round exclusively live, the remaining five matches will be shown every week. Sky Sports+