Leeds Rhinos, Hull KR, St Helens & other Super League giants to enter Challenge Cup earlier in major revamp
Super League teams including Leeds Rhinos will enter the Challenge Cup at an earlier stage next season.
The RFL have revealed the 12 top-tier clubs will go into the bag for the third round draw, three stages earlier than this season. The draw will be made in January and seeded so Super League teams are away from home to a lower division side.
Round three will be played on the weekend of February 8-9, with the fourth round - featuring 16 clubs - played on March 15-16, the quarter-finals on April 5-6, semi-finals on the weekend of May 10-11 and the decider at Wembley on Saturday, June 7.
Thirty two community clubs will contest round one in January and 13 Betfred Championship and 11 League One teams enter from round two, the same month. RL Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones said: “After extensive consultation with clubs and other stakeholders, we believe this new structure for the Betfred Challenge Cup will deliver a number of benefits to the competition and to the sport as a whole.
“It was pleasing to announce an attendance of 64,845 for finals day at Wembley this month, the fourth consecutive year of growth since the 2020 final was played behind closed doors. But we recognised a need to reshape and reinvigorate the early rounds of the competition, which we believe will allow us to maintain that trend at Wembley next June.”