Challenge Cup final talking points

Rugby league's first major honour of the year will be decided on Saturday when Huddersfield Giants and Wigan Warriors face off in the Betfred Challenge Cup final, and we look at what is being said and team news ahead of the match... Meet the finalists

Huddersfield Giants

Head coach: Ian Watson.

Previous Challenge Cup final wins: Six (1913, 1915, 1920, 1933, 1945, 1953).

Route to the final: Round 6 - beat Barrow Raiders 30-16 (A); Quarter-finals - beat Hull FC 24-16 (H); Semi-finals - beat Hull Kingston Rovers 25-4 (Elland Road).

Wigan Warriors

Head coach: Matt Peet.

Previous Challenge Cup final wins: 19 (1924, 1929, 1948, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1965, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2011, 2013).

Route to the final: Round 6 - beat Salford Red Devils 20-0 (H); Quarter-finals - beat Wakefield Trinity 36-6 (A); Semi-finals - beat St Helens 20-18 (Elland Road).

For one year only, the Challenge Cup final is heading to a new venue instead of its traditional Wembley home as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium plays host to one of rugby league's showpiece matches.

The 62,850-capacity stadium, which opened in 2019 on the site of Tottenham Hotspur's former White Hart Lane home, becomes the 12th venue to have hosted the cup final in the competition's 125-year history.

It is the first time it has been held away from Wembley since being played at Twickenham in 2006 when the former was undergoing redevelopment, although the final is due to return to the national stadium next year.

It is 13 years since Huddersfield were last in the Challenge Cup final and even longer since they actually lifted the trophy, with their sixth and most recent triumph coming all the way back in 1953.

Head coach Ian Watson has been here before