It seems like only yesterday that we were at Wembley for the final of the Carnegie Challenge Cup to see Warrington lift the famous rugby league trophy. Four months have passed since that thrilling day in August and as many people wind down for the festive break, there's no rest for the Carnegie Challenge Cup as another year begins for the 112 year old tournament.
Leeds Met's Gandhi Hall was the venue for this year's preliminary and first round draw as amateur clubs gathered from around the country to discover their cup fate. 2009 trophy winners Lee Briers and Michael Monaghan were on hand to draw the balls out of the RFL's shiny draw machine and picked out some intriguing ties. The University's own rugby league team will hope to defeat St Mary's in the preliminary round to set up a home tie against student arch rivals Loughborough in the first round proper! Having reached the third round of the competition for the last two years, they will be looking to emulate that success once again.
The evening proved an ideal opportunity for amateur clubs to interact with one another and to dream of cup glory and the prestige of hosting a superleague club in the fourth round. Speaking with coaches and players of the amateur clubs after the draw it was clear to see what the cup meant to them. Whilst they realised that realistically they wouldn't get to hold the trophy at Wembley in August, they spoke of how the tournament gave their clubs a real boost, both financially and also in terms of confidence and motivation.
All in all, it was a great way to kick off the 2010 Carnegie Challenge Cup and I look forward to being involved in the great competition every step of the way. Before the night was out, I obviously couldn't resist the opportunity to have my photo taken alongside the famous trophy...
