2009 Challenge Cup

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2009 Carnegie Challenge Cup
2009 Challenge Cup
Duration9 Rounds
Highest attendance76,560
Broadcast partnersUnited Kingdom BBC Sport
Winners Warrington Wolves
Runners-up Huddersfield
Biggest home win Featherstone Rovers 94–2
The Army
Biggest away win Batley Bulldogs 4–66
Salford City Reds
Lance Todd Trophy Michael Monaghan

The 2009 Challenge Cup (also known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 108th staging of the most prestigious knock-out competition in rugby league. Teams from England, Scotland, Wales, France and Russia were included in the tournament. It began in January 2009.

Teams from the

Russian Championship. Teams from the Super League
enter in round four.

Defending champions St. Helens lost in the semi-final 14 – 24 to the Huddersfield Giants who went on to lose the final 16 – 25 to the Warrington Wolves.

For 2009, the early stages of the competition was revamped. As the competition has expanded, there was now a preliminary round before the first round, and teams were placed into two 'pools' for the preliminary, first and second rounds.

Pools

Pool A features 48 teams, made up as follows:

  • The 40 teams from the National Conference League
  • The winners of the five major BARLA Regional Leagues
  • The winners of the three major BARLA Regional Cup Competitions – Yorkshire, North West & Cumberland

Pool B features 16 teams, which is a mixed bag of Rugby League Conference teams (including representatives from Scotland and Wales), armed forces representative teams and University teams.

Preliminary round

Pool A

All matches were due to be played on 3–4 January, however, winter weather forced the postponement of most of these fixtures due to frozen pitches. The round is divided into two pools, with several teams receiving a bye to the First Round:[1]

Tie no Home team Score Away team
1 Eccles and Salford Juniors 6–22 Saddleworth Rangers
2 Egremont Rangers 14–8 Thornhill Trojans
3 Ovenden 22–20 Oulton Raiders
4 Skirlaugh 56–4 Heworth
5 Wath Brow Hornets 18–14 Millom
6 Siddal 30–12
Normanton Knights
7 Stanningley 16–18 Hull Dockers
8 Halifax Irish 10–22 Bradford Dudley Hill
9 Rochdale Mayfield 12–36 Leigh East
10 Halton Simms Cross 46–12 York Acorn
11 Ellenborough 4–20 Wigan St Patricks
12 Bank Quay Bulls 6–19 Queens
13 Oldham St Annes 16–30 Wigan St Judes
14 Widnes St Maries 22–8 Ince Rose Bridge
15 Shaw Cross Sharks 16–21 Castleford Lock Lane
16 Stanley Rangers 12–40 Leigh Miners Rangers

†: fixtures rearranged due to frozen pitches. New dates varied between teams, depending on clashes with league fixtures and weather.

Pool B

Fixtures played 17–18 January:[1]

Tie no Home team Score Away team
1 Bristol Sonics 8–52 Leeds Met Carnegie
2 University of Wales Institute 18–20 Valley Cougars
3 Loughborough University 26–16 Nottingham Outlaws
4 West London Sharks 10–22 The Army

Pool A Byes: West Hull, Thatto Heath Crusaders, Myton Warriors, Orchard Park and Greenwood, Eastmoor Dragons, East Hull, Sharlston Rovers, Kells, Hull Isberg, East Leeds, Pilkington Recs, West Bowling, Milford Marlins, Crossfields, Waterhead, Castleford Panthers

Pool B Byes: St Mary's University College, RAF, Warrington Wizards, Featherstone Lions, Hull University, Edinburgh Eagles, Northumbria University, Royal Navy

Round 1

All matches played on 24–25 January. The round was divided into two pools, with the teams that received a bye in the last round entering.[1]

Pool A

Tie no Home team Score Away team
1 Kells 26–14 Eastmoor Dragons
2 West Hull 56–0 East Leeds
3 West Bowling 32–6 East Hull
4 Milford Marlins 14–24 Pilkington Recs
5 Hull Dockers 34–4 Ovenden
6 Castleford Panthers 12–26 Leigh Miners Rangers
7 Waterhead 14–16 Castleford Lock Lane
8 Siddal 36–12 Thatto Heath
9 Crosfields 10–36 Sharlston Rovers
10 Wigan St Patricks 24–18 Skirlaugh
11 Egremont Rangers 0–42 Wath Brow Hornets
12 Leigh East 68–0 Orchard Park and Greenwood
13 Hull Isberg 12–36 Saddleworth Rangers
14 Queens 13–0 Halton Simms Cross
15 Wigan St Judes 34–20 Myton Warriors
16 Bradford Dudley Hill 19–24 Widnes St Maries

†: fixtures rearranged for 31 January due to flooded pitches.

Pool B

Tie no Home team Score Away team
1 Featherstone Lions 18–12 Hull University
2 RAF 16–18 Edinburgh Eagles
3 Loughborough University 40–12 St Mary's University College
4 Leeds Met Carnegie 36–6 Warrington Wizards
5 The Navy 38–28 Valley Cougars
6 The Army 72–0 Northumbria University

Round 2

Draw hosted by Wath Brow Hornets on 27 January, as the winners of the Cumbrian derby in the first round. Matches were played 14–15 February.[2]

Pool A

Tie no Home team Score Away team
1 Wigan St Patricks 20–16 West Hull
2 Widnes St Maries 8–15 Queens
3 Wath Brow Hornets 40–22 Hull Dockers
4 Kells 31–22 Leigh Miners Rangers
5 Wigan St Judes 24–28 Pilkington Recs
6 Siddal 34–10 West Bowling
7 Sharlston Rovers 20–10 Leigh East
8 Saddleworth 20–16 Castleford Lock Lane

Pool B

Tie no Home team Score Away team
1 Loughborough University 20–18 The Navy
2 Leeds Met Carnegie 20–6 Edinburgh Eagles
3 Featherstone Lions 12–30 The Army

Round 3

Draw was made live on

Russian Championship, RC Lokomotiv Moscow. The matches were played on 7–8 March.[4]

Tie no Home team Score Away team
1 Siddal 6–10 Swinton Lions
2
York City Knights
50–10 Wigan St Patricks
3 Featherstone Rovers 94–2 The Army
41 Queens A–A Doncaster
5 Pilkington Recs 24–34 Batley Bulldogs
6 Barrow Raiders 44–12 Blackpool Panthers
7 Gateshead Thunder 42–38 Whitehaven
8 Workington Town 6–18
Lézignan Sangliers
9
Leigh Centurions
82–6 RC Lokomotiv Moscow
10 Oldham R.L.F.C. 26–8 Sharlston
11 Sheffield Eagles 22–6 Toulouse Olympique
12 Leeds Met Carnegie 24–38 Rochdale Hornets
13 Widnes Vikings 88–0 Saddleworth
14 Wath Brow Hornets 14–12 London Skolars
15 Keighley Cougars 30–24
Pia Donkeys
162 Kells 12–22 Hunslet Hawks
17
Halifax
80–16 Loughborough University
18 Dewsbury Rams 18–6 AS Carcassonne

Round 4

Shaun Ainscough try for Wigan Warriors during their match against Barrow Raiders

The draw for round 4 was made live on 9 March on

Super League XIV
teams, as well as Wath Brow Hornets, the competition's only amateur club remaining at this stage, and Lezignan, making this the Round of 32. From this point, no more teams were added to the competition.

All ties were played 3–5 April.[6]

Home Score Away Match information
Date and time Venue Referee Attendance
Swinton Lions 22–28 Rochdale Hornets 3 April, 19:30 BST
Park Lane
Peter Brooke 525
Halifax
20–16 Widnes Vikings 3 April, 20:00 BST Shay Stadium Richard Silverwood 3,204
Hull Kingston Rovers 32–6 Crusaders 3 April, 20:00 BST New Craven Park Thierry Alibert 7,104
Sheffield Eagles 28–18 Dewsbury Rams 3 April, 20:00 BST Don Valley Stadium Robert Hicks 597
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 54–0
Leigh Centurions
3 April, 20:00 BST Belle Vue Gareth Hewer 2,637
Warrington Wolves 56–10
York City Knights
4 April, 14:00 BST Halliwell Jones Stadium James Child 6,000
Harlequins 16–42 Huddersfield Giants 4 April, 15:00 BST
The Twickenham Stoop
Ben Thaler 2,500
Batley Bulldogs 28–24 Hunslet Hawks 5 April, 14:00 BST Mount Pleasant Dave Merrick 633
Featherstone Rovers 54–16 Wath Brow Hornets 5 April, 14:00 BST Chris Moyles Stadium Greg Dolan 1,180
Oldham R.L.F.C. 60–30
Lézignan Sangliers
5 April, 14:00 BST Boundary Park Ronnie Laughton 863
Catalans Dragons 40–38 Bradford Bulls 5 April, 14:30 BST Stade Gilbert Brutus Steve Ganson 6,450
Barrow Raiders 20–32 Wigan Warriors 5 April, 15:00 BST
Craven Park
Jamie Leahy 6,275
Doncaster 18–32 Gateshead Thunder 5 April, 15:00 BST
Keepmoat Stadium
Craig Halloran 458
Keighley Cougars 20–64 Castleford Tigers 5 April, 15:00 BST Cougar Park Matthew Thomason 3,255
Hull F.C. 18–22 Salford City Reds 5 April, 15:15 BST
KC Stadium
Ian Smith 8,945
Leeds Rhinos 18–22 St. Helens 5 April, 16:30 BST Headingley Stadium Phil Bentham 17,689
Average attendance: 4,270

Round 5

The sixteen teams remaining after Round 4 were randomly paired against each other, in a draw held at

AVM Chris Davison, Director of the RAF Sports Board, and Barrie McDermott, former Leeds and Great Britain and Ireland player.[7]

All matches were played on 9–10 May.

Darlington Arena due to a fixture clash between a playoff match for Gateshead F.C., who share the stadium with the rugby league side, and an athletics meeting. This was the first ever professional rugby league match to be held inside County Durham.[9]

The first match of this round was a repeat of a

drop goal by Danny Brough edged Wakefield ahead by one point before Wigan scored their third try to lead 11–16 going into half time, following a successful conversion by Pat Richards. Wakefield scored their only try of the second half after 51 minutes, before Wigan scored two more tries to win the game by a margin of eleven points.[10]

Oldham also started off taking the initial lead before losing to the Gateshead Thunder. Tommy Goulden gave the visitors a lead of six points following a successful conversion, and this gave them a 4–6 lead at half time following a Gateshead try which was unsuccessfully converted. Four tries and three goals from Gateshead after the break handed them a twenty-two-point lead, and two tries and a goal from Oldham were not enough to restore the deficit. A final Gateshead try ended the game with a firm 18-point margin in favour of Gateshead.[11]

The first game ever to be concluded via the

drop goal three minutes into extra time to send Castleford through after an historic fixture.[12]

Huddersfield won their early morning kick-off against Rochdale Hornets despite two late tries from the away side. Luke Robinson opened up the scoring on six minutes to score the first of five first-half tries for Huddersfield, to which Rochdale had no reply. Huddersfield scored again after 44 minutes to put themselves 32 points to nil ahead, before two converted Rochdale tries lowered the deficit to twenty points. Shaun Lunt finished the game off five minutes from full-time with a try that was successfully converted to provide himself with a hat-trick, and to give Huddersfield a comfortable win.[13]

Like Oldham and Wakefield had done the day before, Featherstone Rovers took the initiative before losing to the opposition. Featherstone took a four-point lead thanks to a try which was unsuccessfully converted before Warrington scored twenty unanswered first-half points with four tries and two conversions. Chris Hicks converted his own try shortly after the break to put Warrington 4–26 into the lead before Featherstone replied with what was to be their final try. Warrington proceeded to run in five tries before full-time, all of which were converted by Hicks, to win the game by almost a half-century of points.[14]

Salford City Reds had lost three of their previous matches prior to this round's fixture, but this did not stop eight Salford City Reds players touching down for tries as they delivered the widest winning margin of the round away to Batley. Eight tries and eight goals, seven of which made up John Wilshere's ten goal match tally, scored by Salford City Reds went unanswered as Batley went into half-time fighting a 48-point deficit. Two further converted tries from Salford City Reds, including Mark Henry's fourth try, came before Batley's only try of the afternoon, which was not converted. Luke Adamson touched down two minutes from full-time to give a winning margin of 62 in favour of Salford City Reds.[15]

Of the four

Co-operative Championship sides facing Super League opposition on the Sunday, Sheffield Eagles came closest to winning, with Hull Kingston Rovers having to regalvanise themselves to prevent a Sheffield come-from-behind victory. The Sheffield Eagles only scored one converted try in the first forty minutes compared to the Hull Kingston Rovers' four tries and three goals which had given them a sixteen-point advantage going into half time, but Sheffield struck back quickly after the break with a converted try in the 41st minute. Sheffield scored again fifteen minutes later with a converted try to put them only four points behind, before Shaun Briscoe went over the try-line and Michael Dobson converted to restore a ten-point advantage. Sheffield scored another try to lower the gap to four points again, but a late Rovers try in the 77th minute ended the game to advance them through to the quarterfinals instead of Sheffield.[16]

In a repeat of the

2007 Challenge Cup Final, St. Helens overcame French opposition in the outfit of the Catalans Dragons to reach the quarterfinals and maintain their four-year unbeaten cup run. Two tries within ten minutes gave an eight-point advantage to the home side before Thomas Bosc kicked a penalty to reduce the lead to 8–2. Catalans scored a converted try in the 21st minute to level game, before two tries and a goal for St Helens meant an 18–8 half time scoreline. Catalans failed to score at all in the second half, whilst to the contrary, St Helens ran in four tries, two of which were scored by Paul Wellens. All of the second half tries were converted by Sean Long to give the home side a winning margin of 34 points.[17]

Home Score Away Match information
Date and time Venue Referee Attendance
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 17–28 Wigan Warriors 9 May, 14:30 BST Belle Vue Phil Bentham 4,883
Gateshead Thunder 34–16 Oldham R.L.F.C. 9 May, 15:00 BST The Darlington Arena James Child 929
Castleford Tigers 35–34
Halifax
9 May, 18:00 BST The Jungle Steve Ganson 5,595
Castleford win in extra time via the golden point rule.
Huddersfield Giants 38–12 Rochdale Hornets 10 May, 11:30 BST
Galpharm Stadium
Gareth Hewer 2,859
Featherstone Rovers 8–56 Warrington Wolves 10 May, 13:30 BST Chris Moyles Stadium Ian Smith 3,127
Batley Bulldogs 4–66 Salford City Reds 10 May, 15:00 BST Mount Pleasant Jamie Leahy 1,298
Hull Kingston Rovers 34–24 Sheffield Eagles 10 May, 15:00 BST New Craven Park Thierry Alibert 4,955
St. Helens 42–8 Catalans Dragons 10 May, 15:15 BST GPW Recruitment Stadium Ben Thaler 7,176
Average attendance: 3,853

Quarter finals

The sixth round of the Challenge Cup involves the eight teams who won their respective matches in the previous round. This is the final round where home field advantage is given, due to the requirement that all semi-final matches must be played at a neutral venue.

The draw was made live on BBC Two at the GPW Recruitment Stadium on 10 May. Chris Joynt, four times winner of the Challenge Cup with St. Helens drew the home sides, while Andy Farrell OBE, four times winner with the Wigan Warriors, drew the away sides.

The matches were played on 29–31 May,[18][19] during the hottest weekend of the year so far temperature-wise.[20]

A sunny Friday evening at the

JJB Stadium provided host to the round's first match, between the Wigan Warriors and Salford City Reds. Salford City Redswere victorious in their last three games going into this match, with Wigan hoping to get back to winning ways after a defeat to Warrington at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Both players were also missing a player, Wigan's Stuart Fielden for disciplinary reasons,[21] and Darrell Goulding for Salford City Reds, on loan from Wigan, who was cup-tied for playing against Barrow Raiders earlier on in the competition. A line break from Gareth Hock gave the home side a six-point lead after two minutes, following a successful conversion from Pat Richards. Salford City Reds replied nine minutes later with a line break of their own, eventually resulting in a try for Luke Adamson, converted by John Wilshere. It was to be the only Salford City Reds score of the match, but Wigan failed to take full control after forty minutes in only scoring one further try from Pat Richards on the wing to make the score 10–6 on the half-time hooter. However, Wigan scored eighteen unanswered points in the second half, with Pat Richards kicking a goal on the 49th minute, and scoring two more tries on the 59th and 70th minute to complete his hat-trick, the latter of which was converted. Hock scored another try of his own after 76 minutes, with Richards kicking the conversion to bring his individual total for the match to twenty, booking Wigan's place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2007.[22]

A

Matt King and Chris Bridge, to put them two points ahead with ten minutes left to play. A penalty conceded to the side of Warrington Wolves 's left upright was kicked by Hull Kingston Rovers's Dobson three minutes from full-time to force the game into a golden point situation, the score being 24–24 at the final hooter. Hull Kingston Rovers did not gain enough territory to allow Dobson a chance at a drop goal, whilst conversely Briers missed three attempts, once to the right side facing him and twice to the left side of the uprights, before landing his fourth attempt five minutes into extra time.[23]

In contrast, the match at the

Co-operative Championship team reaching Wembley this year.[24]

The local derby between

Kevin Brown dummied his way for a try in front of the uprights which was successfully converted by Brett Hodgson. Huddersfield had a disallowed try before Castleford kicked a penalty two minutes before half-time to make a 6–6 scoreline at the break. Huddersfield again had a try disallowed for a forward pass, before Brett Ferres scored his only try, and two Kirk Dixon goals gave the visitors a 6–14 lead after fifty minutes. Huddersfield did not concede again, and following a twenty-minute lull, scored a try thanks to Stephen Wild, which was successfully converted. Determined Castleford defending kept Huddersfield out for nine further minutes, before Danny Kirmond scored the match winning try in the 77th minute to send Huddersfield through to the semi-final stage.[25]

Home Score Away Match information
Date and time Venue Referee Attendance
Wigan Warriors 28–6 Salford City Reds 29 May, 20:00 BST
JJB Stadium
Thierry Alibert 9,466
Hull Kingston Rovers 24–25 Warrington Wolves 30 May, 17:30 BST New Craven Park Phil Bentham 7,671
Warrington win by golden point in extra time after the game was tied 24–24 after 80 minutes.
Gateshead Thunder 6–66 St. Helens 30 May, 18:00 BST The 'Thunderdome' Ian Smith 4,325
Huddersfield Giants 16–14 Castleford Tigers 31 May, 15:30 BST
Galpharm Stadium
Richard Silverwood 6,359
Average attendance: 6,955

Semi finals

The four teams remaining play against each other for straight access into the Final. All matches in this round are played on a neutral venue. The draw was made live on

One match is played on Saturday 8 August, the other is played the day after.[27] The dates and venues were confirmed on 2 June, with Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves being played in Widnes at the Stobart Stadium Halton on the Saturday, and St Helens vs Huddersfield being played on the Sunday at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington.[28]

Wigan vs Warrington

8 August 2009 Wigan Warriors 26–39 Warrington Wolves Widnes, England
14:30 BST
Tries: Bailey rugby ball 8'
S. Tomkins rugby ball 53'
Coley rugby ball 60'
Leuluai rugby ball 68'
Goals: Richards 8', 12', 53', 60', 68'
(Report) Tries:
King rugby ball 18'38'48'
L. Anderson rugby ball 20'
Briers rugby ball 22'
Cooper rugby ball 29'
Chris Hicks rugby ball 74'
Goals: Bridge
18', 20', 22', 29', 74'
Drop goals: Briers 70'
Stadium: Stobart Stadium Halton
Attendance: 12,975
Referee: Steve Ganson
Player of the Match: Lee Briers

A

Matt King hat-trick ended Wigan's dreams of going to Wembley in 2009, putting Warrington into their first Challenge Cup final since 1990, despite the return of Wigan's captain Sean O'Loughlin following a knee injury. The video referee declined a Warrington try from Ben Westwood on grounds of obstruction, and Wigan also had a disallowed try from winger Pat Richards, but it was Wigan who took the initiative thanks to a side-step from Phil Bailey after seven minutes; the try was successfully converted by Richards. Two further points were added to Wigan's tally following a penalty, to give an 8–0 lead. Warrington rallied to score twenty-four unanswered points by the half-time break, with two tries from King as well as tries from Louis Anderson, Lee Briers and Michael Cooper, before King completed his hat-trick in the 48th minute to give the Wolves a 24-point lead. Sam Tomkins, in his first season of first-team rugby, started a Wigan fightback as he caught an offload from the right wing by George Carmont before grounding the ball beneath the sticks. Chris Riley was stretchered off for concussion and whiplash after colliding with Joel Tomkins' knee, and Wigan took advantage of this with two further tries from Andy Coley and Thomas Leuluai which were both converted to reduce Wigan's arrears to six points. Briers kicked a drop goal the set afterwards to give Warrington safety, before the game was sealed with a Chris Hicks try to give the full-time score of 26–39.[29]

St Helens vs Huddersfield

9 August 2009 St Helens 14–24 Huddersfield Giants Warrington, England
16:00 BST
Tries: Meli rugby ball 10'51'78'
Goals: Eastmond 51'
(Report) Tries:
Brown
rugby ball 47'
Goals: B. Hodgson 32', 77'
Stadium: Halliwell Jones Stadium
Attendance: 10,638
Referee: Richard Silverwood
Player of the Match: Brett Hodgson

A

Kevin Brown, which was converted to give Huddersfield a 4–10 lead. Huddersfield extended the advantage further, scoring two tries from Leroy Cudjoe and Brown in the first ten minutes of the second half, although Brett Hodgson again missed both. Meli cross the line again on the wing to bring the score to 10–18. A strong defensive performance from Huddersfield prevented another St Helens score, and Wild's second try three minutes from full-time gave the Giants a 14-point advantage. St Helens' solitary try-scorer Meli scored on the wing straight from the kick-off to complete his hat-trick, but there was not enough time for a comeback.[30]

Final

The Carnegie 2009 Challenge Cup Final was played on 29 August, eight rounds and almost eight months after the tournament started in its preliminary stages. Following tradition, the match was held in London at Wembley Stadium. The game finished with Warrington Wolves defeating the Huddersfield Giants 16–25 following two controversial disallowed tries for the Giants, which if awarded would have won them the game if at least one conversion attempt was good.

29 August
Huddersfield Giants 16–25 Warrington Wolves
Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 76,560
Referee: Steve Ganson

Television coverage

Selected matches were televised solely by the BBC in the United Kingdom.

Round Live match Date BBC channel
Round 4 Catalans Dragons 40 – 38 Bradford Bulls
Leeds Rhinos 18 – 22 St. Helens
5 April BBC Two1
Round 5 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 17 – 28 Wigan Warriors
St. Helens 42 – 8 Catalans Dragons
9 May
10 May
BBC One
BBC Two1
Quarter-finals Hull Kingston Rovers 24 – 25 Warrington Wolves
Huddersfield Giants 16 – 14 Castleford Tigers2
30 May
31 May
BBC Two1
Semi-finals Wigan Warriors 26 – 39 Warrington Wolves
St. Helens 14 – 24 Huddersfield Giants
8 August 2009
9 August 2009
BBC One
BBC Two1
Final Huddersfield Giants 16 – 25 Warrington Wolves 29 August BBC One

1 Except Yorkshire.

2 Coverage in Northern Ireland (including analogue) was televised an hour later.

The competition was also televised by Nine Network in Australia.

References

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  15. ^ "Batley 4–66 Salford". news.bbc.co.uk (BBC Sport). 10 May 2009. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
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  20. ^ "Hottest day of the year and widespread burgers forecast". London: guardian.co.uk (The Guardian). 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  21. ^ "One-match ban for Fielden". superleague.co.uk (The RFL). Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
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  25. ^ "Huddersfield 16–14 Castleford". news.bbc.co.uk (BBC Sport). 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
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  29. ^ Hudson, Elizabeth (8 August 2009). "Wigan 26–39 Warrington". BBC News. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
  30. ^ Harlow, Phil (9 August 2009). "St Helens 14–24 Huddersfield". BBC News. Retrieved 10 August 2009.

External links