Liam Finn seeks inspiration from Dewsbury Rams’ 1943 Challenge Cup winning side ahead of second round clash with Ashton Bears

Finn’s men get their 2023 Challenge Cup adventure underway when North West Mens League Premier Division side Ashton Bears visit the FLAIR Stadium on Saturday, February 25, kick off 2pm.

And while there is no obvious expectation on the Rams emulating 1943’s success, in which they beat Leeds 16-15 on aggregate over two legs, Finn has revealed the special anniversary is a hot topic, largely being spread by Ray Abbey, the club’s player liaison officer and former Rhinos academy coach.

Finn said: “Ray is our team manager who sorts everything out for the players and staff, and he talks about it a lot and he is organising dinners with past players.

“It is a good thing to talk about this week and it would be nice for us to have a little bit of a cup run to tip our cap to that on the 80th anniversary.

“That would be nice.”

Asked if he knew a lot about Saturday’s opponents, who will be facing semi-professional opposition for the first time, Finn admitted:

“We know very little. They are difficult to plan for because they go under the radar in the North West league. If you draw an NCL team there is a bit more information available and comparisons and people you can speak to and videos you can get hold of.

“But when they’re in more of a local competition it is hard to gauge as you just don’t know the quality because you don’t know what they are up against week-to-week.

“We have watched their game against the Army. They can play a little bit and they will be fully revved up for this game. We need to start the game well and take that sting out of it.

“Having it in week two of the season is probably handy because everyone is still vying for those positions and not really cemented into the team.

“It’s not a game where we will be making wholesale changes to rest people because we need to find our feet and get our team settled.”

And Finn wants the people of Dewsbury, and beyond, to take advantage of the club’s ticket prices, with children being admitted for free and admission for adults only £10.

“We want to get as many young people in as possible,” Rams’ head coach said. “We have got a really loyal supporter base but we don’t have a great deal of young people coming to watch.

“To increase that would be really good. It just creates a bit of a different atmosphere and it’s good for the players as well to have young kids running on the field after the game, like it used to be.”