2017 Challenge Cup

The draw for the first round of the 2017 Challenge Cup was held on 5 January 2017 at the Deep to celebrate the city being named 2017 UK City of Culture and Hull's efforts in 2016 and featured 32 amateur teams from around the United Kingdom including one student team, all three armed services and the police. Home teams were drawn by Lee Radford and the away teams drawn by Dean Andrew, President of the RFL and The RAF.

Fixtures for the first round were played over the weekend of the 28–29 January 2017.

The second round draw was made on 31 January from the home of amateur team Siddal, who qualified for the second round by defeating Milford Martins 16–14, and was streamed live on BBC Sport's website. The draw was made by former players, Johnny Lawless and Luke Robinson both of whom played for Siddal before turning professional.^[8] Ties were played over the weekend of 11–12 February 2017 with the exception of the game between West Hull and Thatto Heath which was postponed for a week due to a waterlogged pitch.

The draw for the third round as made on 14 February 2017. The draw was conducted by Super League players Stefan Ratchford and Ryan Brierley. Ties were played 25–26 February 2017.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Siddal ARLFC	6–14	Toronto Wolfpack	25 February 2017, 13:00	Siddal Sports & Community Centre	T. Grant	1,053
West Hull	16–18	Whitehaven	25 February 2017, 14:00	West Hull Community Park	P. Marklove	150
Wests Warriors	12–26	Haydock ARLFC	25 February 2017, 14:30	New River Stadium	M. Rossleigh	430
Fryston Warriors	32–50	Keighley Cougars	25 February 2017, 15:00	The Big Fellas Stadium	J. McMullen	739
Newcastle Thunder	18–16	Workington Town	25 February 2017, 17:00	Kingston Park	M. Mannifield	400
Barrow Raiders	60–6	Rochdale Mayfield	26 February 2017, 14:00	Craven Park	M. Griffiths	500
Gloucestershire All Golds	36–18	North Wales Crusaders	26 February 2017, 14:00	Prince of Wales Stadium	G. Dolan	87
Hemel Stags	12–22	London Skolars	26 February 2017, 14:30	Pennine Way Stadium	S. Race	112
Doncaster	34–6	Myton Warriors	26 February 2017, 15:00	Keepmoat Stadium	L. Moore	366
York City Knights	48–8	Egremont Rangers	26 February 2017, 15:00	Bootham Crescent	L. Staveley	635
South Wales Ironmen	4–18	Oxford Rugby League	26 February 2017, 15:00	The Wern	N. Bennett	115
Hunslet	34–0	Coventry Bears	26 February 2017, 15:00	South Leeds Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	249
Source:[10]

The winners of the 12 third-round ties were joined in the fourth round by the 12 teams in the Championship. The draw was made on board HMS Bulwark on Tuesday 28 February. The draw was made by former St Helens player, Paul Sculthorpe and the chairman of the Royal Marine Rugby League Association, Major Jack Duckitt.^[11] Ties were played over the weekend of 17–19 March with the exception of the Whitehaven v Oxford fixture which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
London Broncos	26–30	Toronto Wolfpack	17 March 2017, 20:00	Trailfinders Sports Ground	S. Mikalauskas	758
Dewsbury Rams	36–8	Newcastle Thunder	17 March 2017, 20:00	Tetley's Stadium	J. McMullen	425
Oldham	40–12	Haydock ARLFC	18 March 2017, 13:00	Bower Fold	N. Bennett	743
Toulouse Olympique	16–34	Batley Bulldogs	18 March 2017, 14:00	Stade Ernest-Argelès	J. Child	150
Swinton Lions	40 – 8	London Skolars	18 March 2017, 15:00	Heywood Road	G. Dolan	200
Barrow Raiders	20–0	Keighley Cougars	18 March 2017, 18:30	Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness	G. Hewer	721
Bradford Bulls	13–21	Featherstone Rovers	19 March 2017, 15:00	Provident Stadium	C. Straw	2,458
Gloucestershire All Golds	22–48	Doncaster	19 March 2017, 15:00	Keepmoat Stadium [a]	M. Rossleigh	280
Halifax	20–6	Hunslet	19 March 2017, 15:00	The Shay	T. Grant	793
Hull Kingston Rovers	48–10	Sheffield Eagles	19 March 2017, 15:00	Craven Park	J. Roberts	3,408
York City Knights	26–20	Rochdale Hornets	19 March 2017, 15:00	Bootham Crescent	B. Robinson	652
Whitehaven	46–14	Oxford	26 March 2017, 14:00[b]	Recreation Ground	T. Crashley	375
Source:[12]

The fifth round draw sees the entry of four Super League clubs, these being those that finished the top of the 2016 Qualifiers. The draw was made live on the BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast show on Tuesday 21 March at 7-45 am. The draw was made by show host, Rachel Burden, and former international player, at both codes, Jason Robinson.^[13]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Leeds Rhinos	64–28	Doncaster	21 April 2017, 20:00	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	C. Campbell	5,097
Leigh Centurions	10–23	Hull Kingston Rovers	22 April 2017, 15:00	Leigh Sports Village	J. Child	3,880
Salford Red Devils	29–22	Toronto Wolfpack	23 April 2017, 12:15	AJ Bell Stadium	J. Smith	1,318
Huddersfield Giants	24–28	Swinton Lions	23 April 2017, 12:30	John Smith's Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	1,292
Featherstone Rovers	30–4	Oldham	23 April 2017, 15:00	The Big Fellas Stadium	T. Grant	1,408
Dewsbury Rams	23–22	Batley Bulldogs	23 April 2017, 15:00	Tetley's Stadium	J. Roberts	962
Whitehaven	12–36	Halifax	23 April 2017, 15:00	Recreation Ground	L. Moore	636
York City Knights	28–50	Barrow Raiders	23 April 2017, 15:00	Bootham Crescent	J. McMullen	904
Source:[14]

The draw for the sixth round was made on Tuesday 25 April live on the BBC News channel during the 6-30pm Sportsday programme. The draw was made by former players Chris Joynt and Keith Senior.^[15]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Featherstone Rovers	24–12	Halifax	11 May 2017, 20:00	The Big Fellas Stadium	C. Campbell	1,736
Salford Red Devils	24–14	Hull Kingston Rovers	12 May 2017, 20:00	AJ Bell Stadium	R. Hicks	3,100
Dewsbury Rams	6–54	Wakefield Trinity	12 May 2017, 20:00	Tetley's Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	2,125
Hull	62–0	Catalans Dragons	12 May 2017, 20:00	KCOM Stadium	B. Thaler	6,470
Castleford Tigers	53–10	St. Helens	13 May 2017, 14:30	Mend-A-Hose Jungle	P. Bentham	5,216
Leeds Rhinos	72–10	Barrow Raiders	14 May 2017, 15:00	Headingley	J. Smith	5,226
Swinton Lions	12–42	Wigan Warriors	14 May 2017, 15:00	Heywood Road	C. Kendall	2,003
Warrington Wolves	34–20	Widnes Vikings	14 May 2017, 15:00	Halliwell Jones Stadium	J. Child	5,971
Source:[16]

The draw for the quarter finals was made immediately after the conclusion of the last sixth round match. Home teams were drawn by former Welsh international Iestyn Harris and away teams by Leigh captain Micky Higham.^[17]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Salford Red Devils	30–6	Wakefield Trinity	15 June, 20:00	AJ Bell Stadium	R. Hicks	2,820
Leeds Rhinos	58–0	Featherstone Rovers	16 June, 20:00	Headingley	C. Kendall	6,181
Warrington Wolves	26–27	Wigan Warriors	17 June, 15:00	Halliwell Jones Stadium	B. Thaler	7,312
Hull	32–24	Castleford Tigers	18 June, 15:00	KCOM Stadium	P. Bentham	11,944

The semi-final draw was conducted on BBC 2 immediately after Hull's 32–24 victory over Castleford Tigers. Conducting the draw were two Challenge Cup winning team members; Danny Brough (2005) and Barry Johnson (1986).^[18] The ties were played at neutral venues; after the draw these were announced as Doncaster and Warrington.^[19]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Hull	43–24	Leeds Rhinos	29 July 2017, 14:30	Keepmoat Stadium	P. Bentham	14,526
Wigan Warriors	27–14	Salford Red Devils	30 July 2017, 14:30	Halliwell Jones Stadium	J. Child	10,796

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Hull	18–14	Wigan Warriors	26 August 2017, 15:00	Wembley Stadium	Phil Bentham	68,525

Teams:

Hull: Jamie Shaul, Mahe Fonua, Josh Griffin, Carlos Tuimavave, Fetuli Talanoa, Albert Kelly, Marc Sneyd, Liam Watts, Danny Houghton, Scott Taylor, Sika Manu, Mark Minichiello, Gareth Ellis (captain).

Substitutes (all used): Chris Green, Danny Washbrook, Josh Bowden, Jake Connor.
Tries: Talanoa (1), Fonua (2). Goals: Sneyd (3/3).

Wigan Warriors: Sam Tomkins, Liam Marshall, Anthony Gelling, Oliver Gildart, Joe Burgess, George Williams, Thomas Leuluai, Frank Paul Nuuausala, Michael McIlorum, Tony Clubb, John Bateman, Liam Farrell, Sean O'Loughlin (captain).

Substitutes (all used): Willie Isa, Ryan Sutton, Sam Powell, Taulima Tautai.
Tries: Bateman (1), Gildart (1), Burgess (1). Goals: Williams (1/3).

Lance Todd Trophy Winner: Marc Sneyd

The primary broadcast organisation for the competition was BBC Sport. On 24 January the RFL announced that the BBC would be streaming one tie from each of the first five rounds live on the BBC Sport website with two games from the 6th, 7th and 8th rounds being broadcast live on BBC TV.^[20] The fifth-round game between Salford and Toronto was streamed live on Facebook (excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland) after the RFL and both clubs agreed a deal over global broadcast rights.^[21]

Sky Sports also have broadcasting rights after the fifth round and showed two games from the sixth round live.^[22]

Official website