Leeds Rhinos Challenge Cup ground switch explained as amateur club Wests Warriors say 'we had no choice'

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London amateur club Wests Warriors say they had “no choice” but to switch their glamour clash with Leeds Rhinos to AMT Headingley.

Super League sides were seeded to play away from home when they enter the Betfred Challenge Cup at the third round stage, but after discussions between the two clubs, next Saturday’s tie was moved to Leeds. Wests play their Southern Conference home games at Wasps FC in Acton, which does not meet minimum standards for staging a match against a Super League team.

Warriors’ coach Kimbo Parkinson said: “We were actually hoping we could host it at Wasps, but unfortunately we didn’t meet the RFL criteria so Leeds were kind enough to offer to host us, which is really exciting. The boys get to play at a world-class stadium and experience the gameday hospitality from Leeds, so we are looking forward to it.”

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Amateur club Wests Warriors will face Leeds Rhinos at AMT Headingley next week. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.Amateur club Wests Warriors will face Leeds Rhinos at AMT Headingley next week. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
Amateur club Wests Warriors will face Leeds Rhinos at AMT Headingley next week. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

Reversing the fixture gives Wests’ players a once in a lifetime opportunity to play at rugby league’s most iconic stadium, but Parkinson stressed: “We had no choice in the matter. We looked at other venues in London as well, for example London Broncos at Wimbledon.

“The other alternative was to hire a temporary grandstand at our facility, but the cheapest quote we could get for that was £6,000 and we just don’t have that money. We knew we wouldn’t make money on the gate to cover that, so we had no choice.”

It will be Leeds’ first meeting with an amateur team since 1988 and the last time it happened at Headingley was in 1920. Parkinson added: “We are just happy to be experiencing Challenge Cup round three against a Super League team. It is going to be a pretty unreal experience, just being in the changing rooms at Leeds. Leeds hosted the first Challenge Cup final [in 1897] so there’s a lot of history in that ground.”

The move also suits Rhinos, whose Super League campaign begins exactly a week later, at home to Wakefield Trinity. Wests will stay at the Headingley Lodge hotel at the stadium and Parkinson said: “They have been nothing but helpful since we beat the Army in the last round. They are doing everything they can to make it as easy as possible for us.”

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