Warrington Wolves’ Challenge Cup woes were compounded further on Saturday evening following confirmation they will be without fullback Matt Dufty for a prolonged period.
Dufty suffered a sickening head clash during the second half of the Wire’s defeat to Hull KR at Wembley Stadium. He collided with Rovers’ James Batchelor and required attention from the medical staff for a number of minutes.
Dufty would play on but was ultimately withdrawn in the final minutes – after which time Rovers went on to score the winning try through Tom Davies.
And Sam Burgess confirmed after the game that Dufty had fractured his eye socket which ‘popped out’ in the final minutes of the match.
That will lead to the Australian being unavailable for a lengthy amount of time.
“He’s broke his eye socket when he clashed heads with 20 minutes to go,” Burgess revealed. Unfortunately it popped out with seven or eight minutes to go so we’ll miss Duff for a while. The boys wanted to get the job done for him but that’s sport.”
Burgess admitted he felt for his players post-match given the amount of effort they had put into the final, only to let the result slip in the final moments.
“We really turned up and it’ll be a tough one for the players to understand,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll feel like they should have lost today.
“They’re so disappointed but they should be very proud of themselves. We came and executed a brilliant plan, got ourselves in a winnable position but the last couple of minutes just didn’t work for us. It’s in the history books for us now.”
Sam Powell opens up on Wembley ‘hurt’ as agonising Challenge Cup wait goes on
Warrington ace Sam Powell admitted he was ‘absolutely gutted’ and ‘hurt’ after the Wolves’ Challenge Cup final defeat to Hull KR, which extended his agonising personal wait to win the competition by at least 12 months.
Powell – who will turn 33 in July – won virtually everything there is to win during his 12-year stint in the first-team set-up with hometown club Wigan Warriors.
The only major honour he failed to win was the Challenge Cup, twice missing out on selection for the competition’s final as the Warriors won it in 2013 and 2022.
Having missed out on selection in the first of those as a youngster, he was then suspended for Wigan’s 2022 success at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Huddersfield Giants.
And now, having lost the 2017 edition of the competition’s final against Hull FC, he’s lost the last two in a Warrington shirt.
Sam Powell opens up on Wembley ‘hurt’ as agonising Challenge Cup wait goes on
Powell and co. lost convincingly to his former club Wigan in 2024, but on Saturday were less than 200 seconds away from an upset against Super League leaders Hull KR.
Sam Burgess’ side had led 6-2 for the duration of the second half before Tom Davies got the try which ultimately allowed Mikey Lewis to win it with his conversion two minutes from the final hooter.
8-6 the final score, and post-match, Powell – who will turn 33 in July – said: “It’s pretty silent in there (the dressing room), we’re all pretty gutted.
“That’s sport, it’s cruel sometimes.
“I’m gutted, I’m absolutely gutted. It hurts me, I’m hurting at the minute.”
Powell knows he will get at least one more crack at winning the cup having agreed terms on a one-year extension for 2026 with Warrington.
He continued: “I’ll be a bit down today and tomorrow, but I’ll go up and see my family now and I’ll reset over the weekend while I’m with them.
“It’s about being professional. We’ll be back in on probably Tuesday now, and we’ll go again against Leeds next week.”
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