1895 Cup: Batley Bulldogs prepare to face ‘bogey team’ Sheffield Eagles for semi-final place

Batley make the trip to Olympic Legacy Park on Sunday, March 3 (kick off 3pm) after being beaten twice by Sheffield in the league in 2023, including a 36-0 loss at the same venue in round 3 of the Championship.

The Eagles beat the Bulldogs 85-6 on aggregate in those two games and Moxon is expecting another difficult contest.

He said: “Sheffield have been a bit of a bogey team for us for a while now. It is a difficult place to go with the 3G pitch at Legacy Park. It is different for our lads who have been training in an inch of mud for the last two months. The game is going to be quicker than what we have been used to so we are going to have to adapt to that fairly quickly.

“We have drawn Widnes in the Challenge Cup the week after as well and that’s on a fast track too on a 4G. It is a couple of weeks coming that will be slightly different to what we have had up to now so we are going to focus on that and try and prepare the best we can.”

He added: “Every game is different, maybe they caught us on an off day (last season). They are a quality team with quality individuals in their side. They have strengthened this year as well. They fetched some quality players in so it is going to be a tough challenge for us but it is one which we will relish and we will go over there and do the best we can.

“They have been similar to us in the 1895 Cup and Challenge Cup and playing games they have been expected to win and they have done. It is not just about winning on paper, it is about getting the job done on the day and they were impressive against York (in the Challenge Cup) on Sunday.”

The Bulldogs are two games away from a successive visit to Wembley after appearing at the national stadium for the first time in their 143-year history last season in their 1895 Cup final defeat at the hands of Halifax Panthers.

On reaching Wembley again, Moxon said: “We spoke about it in our goals at the start of the season to try and replicate what we did last year. But it is not an easy task.

“Drawing Sheffield away is a tough order but we went to York in the semi finals last season and it brought back memories when I was watching the York and Sheffield game.

“There is no reason why we can’t go over there and get the victory but it is going to be hard fought and we are going to be at our best to get the job done.”