Huddersfield Giants' Luke Robinson aims to swap Challenge Cup heartache for glory vs Wigan

Growing up, he had Shaun Edwards and Andy Farrell posters all over his bedroom walls and regularly followed his Wigan heroes to Wembley and back.

Luke Robinson then lived out his dream by playing for arguably the most famous rugby league club in the world. But his heart has long since been with Huddersfield Giants where the charismatic scrum-half featured more than 200 times and earned England honours. Now, as the club’s assistant coach, Yorkshireman Robinson is helping plot Wigan’s downfall in Saturday’s Betfred Challenge Cup final.

And hopefully ending his own heartache in the sport’s oldest knockout competition. Robinson, 37, recalled: “I was only 17 when Wigan won the Cup at Murrayfield in 2002. I played in the earlier rounds but didn’t make the final itself. It was an amazing experience, though, just to be around the group with players like Andy Farrell. It gave me an idea of what finals are like and how you win them.”

He was out of favour with Denis Betts and so missed the 2004 final when Wigan lost against St Helens. He said: "It was a weird situation. I was part of Mike Gregory’s plans and was fortunate to play in the Grand Final the year before. But everyone knew what happened with Mike Greg as he became ill. Sport, like anything in life, is about opinions. And Denis Betts came in and had other ideas of where he wanted the team to go. I wasn’t part of those plans so I went on loan to Castleford."

But Halifax-born Robinson got his chance when Nathan Brown’s Huddersfield faced Warrington in 2009 - even if things did go wrong in a 25-16 Wembley loss. He remembered: "To eventually play in a Challenge Cup final, was an amazing experience but it’s tinged with a little bit of sadness. Your childhood ambition is always