Betfred Challenge Cup draws – Tuesday January 14
Betfred Challenge Cup draws – Tuesday January 14
The big guns will join the Road to Wembley in both the Betfred Challenge Cup and the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup on Tuesday evening – with two draws broadcast live by BBC Sport from 630pm.
The 2025 Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup will again begin with a group phase, this year involving the eight Betfred Women’s Super League teams plus four from the Championship – to be drawn into four seeded groups of three, with two teams from each group qualifying for the quarter finals.
Meanwhile the Betfred Challenge Cup has a new format which will see the 12 Betfred Super League clubs enter at an earlier stage, in the last 32 – again in a seeded draw, which guarantees that each of them will be drawn away to one of the 20 Second Round winners.
That means Super League clubs will now need to win four matches to reach Challenge Cup Finals Day at Wembley in June – and guarantees a range of David versus Goliath style ties in the Third Round along similar lines to Tamworth v Tottenham in football’s FA Cup.
As a result of the postponement of 14 of the 17 First Round ties scheduled for the weekend just gone, there will be 31 community teams with an involvement in Tuesday evening’s Third Round draw, in addition to 23 from Betfred Championship and League One.
The 20 Second Round ties have each been given a number in the order they were drawn in Goole before Christmas – for example, the winners of BBC Sport’s selected Second Round tie between London Broncos and Goole Vikings will be number 6.
The draw will begin with one ball being drawn to face each of the 12 Betfred Super League clubs – starting with Wakefield Trinity, who return to the elite in 2025 having won the Betfred Championship and the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup last season, and concluding with Wigan Warriors, the Betfred Super League and Challenge Cup holders.
The remaining eight balls will then be drawn in four more ties to complete the line-up of 16 ties for the Third Round, to be played on the weekend of February 7-9.
In the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup draw, the teams will be split into two pools, with last season’s top four in Pool two alongside eight teams from across the Super League and Northern Championship in Pool one.
The 12 teams will be drawn into four groups of three, and as in previous years the draw will be seeded with one of last season’s top four teams – Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, York Valkyrie and the Cup holders St Helens – in each group, alongside two teams selected from the remaining eight.
Betfred Challenge Cup Third Round draw
Ball numbers
- 1 - GB Police, York Acorn, London Chargers or Oulton Raiders
- 2 - Halifax Panthers, Thatto Heath or Orrell St James
- 3 - Dewsbury Moor, Haresfinch or Dewsbury Rams
- 4 - Barrow Raiders, Crosfields or Maryport
- 5 – Mirfield, Royal Navy or Workington Town
- 6 - London Broncos or Goole Vikings
- 7 - Lock Lane, Doncaster Toll Bar or Hunslet RLFC
- 8 - Waterhead Warriors, Leigh Miners or Featherstone Rovers
- 9 - Wests Warriors, British Army or RAF
- 10 - Whitehaven or Swinton Lions
- 11 - Stanley Rangers, Hunslet ARLFC, West Hull or Edinburgh Eagles
- 12 - Rochdale Hornets or Widnes Vikings
- 13 – Oldham, Rochdale Mayfield or Telford Raiders
- 14 - Keighley Cougars or York Knights
- 15 - Sheffield Eagles, West Bowling or Cutsyke Raiders
- 16 - Bradford Bulls or Doncaster
- 17 – Blackbrook, Longhorns or Ince Rose Bridge
- 18 - Midlands Hurricanes or Siddal
- 19 - Cornwall or North Wales Crusaders
- 20 - Newcastle Thunder or Batley Bulldogs
Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup Group Stage draw
Pool one
- 1- Barrow Raiders
- 2 - Cardiff Demons
- 3 - Featherstone Rovers
- 4 – Huddersfield Giants
- 5 - Leigh Leopards
- 6 – London Broncos
- 7 – Sheffield Eagles
- 8 - Warrington Wolves
Pool two
- 9 – Leeds Rhinos
- 10 – St Helens
- 11- Wigan Warriors
- 12 – York Valkyrie
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