Amy Hardcastle: Leeds want to make Rob Burrow proud in Women’s Challenge Cup final

Amy Hardcastle says her Leeds team-mates are determined to make Rob Burrow proud when they try to stop St Helens claiming a fourth consecutive Women’s Challenge Cup triumph at Wembley on Saturday.

A day of tributes to Burrow – who died on Sunday after a four-and-a-half-year battle with motor neurone disease – will have personal meaning for a number of Rhinos players as they look to lift the trophy for the first time since 2019.

And the significance of the occasion is not lost on Halifax-born Hardcastle, who grew up inspired by Burrow’s herculean feats in a Rhinos shirt and believes they are the kind of memories that could help give him an edge.

“I watched rugby growing up and watched Rob play,” Hardcastle told the PA news agency. “He was a phenomenal athlete and the culture at Leeds was created by legends like him.

“We have a lot of girls who are from Leeds in the team and would have looked up to Rob as a role model. We will be there together as a club. We want to make everyone proud and do it for Rob.

“If we question ourselves with negative thoughts, we’ll remember why we’re doing it even more. It might just give us that extra one percent that we need as a team and as individuals to push through.”

A minute’s silence in honor of Burrow will be held before both the women’s and men’s finals, while a minute’s applause will also take place in the seventh minute – in honor of the number seven shirt he donned at Headingley – of all day matches, including schools and the 1895 final.

Hardcastle, 35, was part of the Saints side that won the 2022 Challenge Cup with victory over Leeds at Elland Road – before switching clubs and tasting defeat in their first final at Wembley last year when Saints tightened their grip on the trophy.

Both teams come into the game with four wins and one loss from their five Super League matches so far this season, with the Saints getting the better of the Rhinos in their most recent meeting at the end of last month.

But Hardcastle believes a new-look Leeds side, combining fresh faces with experienced duo Caitlin Beevers and Zoe Hornby, have what it takes to finally unseat their rivals from a title they have held since 2021.

“Playing anyone at Wembley is a great feeling, but to be able to face Saints again and have the chance to stop them making it four in a row is exciting,” Hardcastle added.

“We’ll never forget last year, but we’ve been there now and we know what to expect. For younger ones, it probably won’t feel as scary. I think if we perform as a Leeds team like we did, there’s no reason why we can’t be that successful.”