Desire will decide the destiny of the Carnegie Challenge Cup, Hull prop Jamie Thackray believes.
Hull weren't expected to beat Leeds the last time they won the trophy, three years ago, but they will create one of the biggest upsets in Cup final history if they end Saints' two-year dominance of the trophy.
Thackray, right, knows the odds are s
tacked against them, but he reckons Hull have got what it takes to create a sensation.
"We are big underdogs and our form's not been good this season," Thackray admitted.
"We have had that many injuries, Richard (coach Richard Agar) has not been able to put his first-choice team out.
"But I'm sure we'll be near enough full strength on Saturday and it's down to who wants it most.
"We're confident, if we get a good team out, we'll give them a good game and you never know on the day.
"When we played Bradford away in the Challenge Cup, our defence that day was awesome.
"We were down to 11 men at one stage, but we held on.
"We can play, it's just a matter of wanting it. You don't need to be motivated for the Cup final and I'm sure everyone will be up for it. We're excited and we're looking forward to it."
Thackray tasted Challenge Cup final success at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in 2005, but he expects next weekend to be an even better experience.
"I can't wait," he said. "There'll be another 20,000 people there and it's the national stadium. It's going to beat last time by a mile."
Thackray began the year as an outcast at Leeds and was shipped out on loan to National Two outfit Doncaster, before Hull offered him a lifeline.
That almost turned to disaster as an administrative blunder saw him included in Hull's team for the fourth and fifth rounds of the Cup, despite signing him after the deadline.
The RFL opted not to expel Hull from the competition, letting them off with a fine.
Thackray – an innocent party in the ineligible player fiasco – admitted what happened at Leeds was "disappointing" and he added: "I have had an up and down year, but my form hasn't been too bad and since I've been back at Hull I haven't missed a game.
"Personally, I'm quite happy. I would have liked to win more games and we probably could have, we've lost a few by two points and we've been 18 and 14 points up and ended up losing.
"There's things to work on and it's disappointing, because we could have done so much better, but silly mistakes have let us down."
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