‘We knew we could win’ - Liam Finn insists Dewsbury Rams’ Challenge Cup win over Widnes Vikings is not a ‘shock’

A double from Reiss Butterworth, in addition to tries from Lewis Carr, Ollie Greensmith and Ronan Dixon, arguably provided the competition’s biggest shock of the season so far, as the League 1 leaders beat the seven-time winners 32-12.

But Finn was confident his side, who were relegated from the Championship last season, could maintain their unbeaten start to 2023 and progress to the fifth round where they well meet London Broncos.

He said: “For eyes looking in, it’s a shock but for us, as a group, we wanted to win and we knew we could win. The important thing was to perform and be exposed to that level.

“The result is massive in the end but the performance is what we wanted. I kept saying to everyone that it was about playing at Championship speed, Championship tempo and Championship physicality and getting that exposure.

“We feel like we have been trying to mimic that in League 1 this year and getting the rewards for it. But, obviously, by playing at a certain level you get used to that level and I think at the start of this game it did that to the lads. They found it was Championship pace and a few of the lads were saying after eight or nine minutes, “I’ve forgotten what it was like in the Championship.”

“We hung in there. The physicality and tempo is always a shock to the system even though you know that it is coming. It took our lads a while to come to terms with that. But at the same time they were digging in and holding out and making sure we didn’t concede.

“Up until 25 minutes we were hanging on and we were getting our lungs back and were getting used to the speed of it all. But we had a resilience to not concede many points in that period and we came out of the other end and still carried the ball hard and made it physical for Widnes.

“To then nick a few points at the other end was massive for our confidence. We will be better for that in the next few months.

“We now get another opportunity to do it in a few weeks’ time. Winning is a by-product and it’s huge because not only do we progress in the cup, we also get the chance to play another Championship team in a few weeks. It is just great for us.”

The Rams led 12-8 at the half-time but turned on the style in the second half - a half which they won 20-4. Asked what he said to his players at half-time, Finn responded:

“The message was really simple. Anytime you start a half, you go back to basics and you get your next three or four sets out and try and put the opposition in their 20. If you do that, and you defend well for the first three plays, you generally get yourself back into the energy battle and you get the ball back into a decent field position.

“That’s what we try to do every week. Today was no different. It was probably more about calming everybody down at half-time. It was about the lads holding their nerve and being patient, which is what we have been working on.

“You saw that today, we were quite patient and we had to bide our time and we scored tries at the end of sets.”

Butterworth’s double, as well as his overall performance, impressed his coach, especially as he was a major doubt before the game.

“Reiss put in a big shift,” said Finn. “It was 50-50 whether he would play today as he took a big shot on his ribs last week and struggled to train. It showed great mentality and toughness to get out there on the field.

“I also thought Jackson Walker put a good shift in either side of half-time. It wasn’t massive in terms of minutes but it was massive for him as he has been a little bit in and out of the team.

“He put a shift in and held his end up.

“Everyone in the middle who has been turning up week in, week out, and the outside backs who have been getting a lot of joy carrying the ball out of our end, had to work a lot harder for it today.

“Obviously playing against a league above opposition, you have to work harder, and you don’t always get the rewards early on and you have got to stick at it and make minimal gains and just keep doing it time after time. It takes its toll and wear on the opposition and I thought we were good at that.”