Bradford Bulls await Wakefield as 1895 Cup gets it right

For Wakefield, you need to switch those last two numbers around, with 1979 marking the last time they ran out for a match at the famous ground.

And both have unhappy memories of their last visits to Wembley, with Bradford missing out on winning the double by losing the Challenge Cup final 32-22 to St Helens, and Wakefield suffering the same fate against Widnes 18 years prior.

Yet the two famous old rugby league clubs have a chance to earn a 21st century day to remember now, as they face off in an AB Sundecks 1895 Cup semi-final at Odsal tomorrow.

The winner will head to Wembley to take on Sheffield or York in the final on Saturday, June 8, for the right to win the tournament which, in my opinion, has finally got things right at the fifth time of asking.

Bulls could face York in the final at Wembley, where they could try and get revenge for last month's league defeat at the LNER Community Stadium. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

The main issue with the inaugural staging of the event in 2019 was the baffling decision to play three last-16 games and all four quarter-finals in midweek.

Given nearly every Betfred Championship and League 1 side is primarily made up of part-time players, asking them to play Wednesday night games after a full day at work, with matches on the weekend either side, does not seem the smartest move.

And it led to Bulls’ first-ever game in the competition being a total wipeout.

Then head coach John Kear had no interest in sending his regular first team squad all the way to Barrow for a midweek match, just three days after a Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat to Halifax and four days prior to an important league game with Batley, meaning a visiting side full of teenagers and debutants crashed to a 50-6 defeat in Cumbria.

There was no 1895 Cup in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while 2021, 2022 and 2023 all followed the same format.

Four of the five editions have had a Wembley final, with 2022’s showpiece coming at the vast, modern and impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

That is a huge tick in the box for the competition, as it offers Championship clubs the chance for a huge day out for a final in the capital, something the Challenge Cup is not going to give them, such is the dominance of Super League, both in terms of quality and finances.

But the big issue with the last three 1895 Cup tournaments, for me, is that they been unnecessarily intertwined with the Challenge Cup.

In all of 2021, 2022 and 2023, there were only 1895 semis and a final, involving the four non Super League sides who progressed furthest in that season’s Challenge Cup.

Bulls were bundled out of the Challenge Cup last year by Halifax, with that fifth round win for the Panthers putting them into the 1895 Cup, which they went on to win at Wembley against Batley. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

I felt that devalued the competition somewhat, giving it the feel of a consolation prize.

And can you really call something a tournament when it only involves three fixtures?

For me, cups should never be interlinked, and should always be a separate competition (I apply that thinking to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League too by the way).

Essentially, the four semi-finalists over the last three years have been rewarded for losing a game and being knocked out of another cup.

Imagine, for example, in football, the Bristol Street Motors Trophy only being contested between the four League One and Two sides who progressed furthest in the FA Cup before being knocked out?

Winning a cup should be a reward, not a consolation prize.

I’ve really enjoyed the format of this year’s 1895 Cup, as it has offered meaningful games for Championship and League 1 sides since the end of January, followed a simple group and knockout format and allowed third-tier sides to host glamour games, like Newcastle versus Wakefield and Keighley versus Bradford.

And arguably most pleasingly, there have been no big boy bullies from Super League to spoil the fun.

It feels as if it is being taken more seriously by clubs too, as a result of it being a fully-formed, standalone, six-month tournament.

Before the competition began, Bulls CEO Jason Hirst told the T&A: “I personally think the season structure will help us, in terms of generating a buzz.

“If we are successful in the 1895 Cup, starting with getting out of the group stage, and if we beat both North Wales and Widnes in the Challenge Cup, that takes us towards the start of the league season.

Bulls had already beaten Dewsbury, Keighley and Swinton in the 1895 Cup this season before they had even played a league game. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

“That’s building momentum within the first team, and winning breeds confidence, so that can only help us.

“Equally, it can create a buzz externally if we do well in those cups, and by that, I mean among the fanbase and sponsors.”

And speaking after Bulls’ league win over Swinton last weekend, Aussie second row Zac Fulton said: “We’ve just got to step up again, because Wakefield are probably the benchmark in this competition.

“But I think we’re ready to knock them off their perch.

“We want to get to this final of the 1895 Cup.

“This was a very big game for us at Swinton, given we’re 80 minutes away from Wembley, so we needed to go into that Wakefield cup semi-final with a win.”

Bulls are hopeful of bringing in their biggest crowd at Odsal since beating Leeds in the 2019 Challenge Cup tomorrow, and that is hardly surprising.

After four years of doing next to nothing in this competition, Bradford have finally cracked it in season five.

And with the 1895 Cup using its best format yet, Bulls fans have every reason to be excited.