\n Wigan stand in the way of a Saints side looking to reach the national stadium for the first time since 2021.\n<\/p>\n
\n But remarkably \u2013 given the rapid turnover of Saints personnel in recent years \u2013 only about half a dozen members of the side likely to play this weekend have played at Wembley.\n<\/p>\n
\n So that in itself will bring huge motivation.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rowley said: \u201cThe week will be as normal as possible.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe don’t need to sing from the rooftops about it because we know it’s there.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cYou’d have to be foolish not to.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe don’t want to be throwing eye of the tiger on just yet. It’s early in the week, so we’re chilled.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThere\u2019s plenty of motivation.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt is a big game, but Wigan v Saints games are big without the added gravitas of the Challenge Cup semi-final title, but so this makes it extra special with the jeopardy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n For Rowley the Challenge Cup still has a special place in his heart and one he has fond memories of growing up.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt’s a funny one because my era as a player, that was the thing that I dreamed about, before even the birth of Super League, so my dreams were full of Challenge Cup glory, going to Wembley, big day out in London, so to me it still has that magic.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt will always have it; it’s the romance of the Challenge Cup, it’s a different feel, so it’s something that we’re looking forward to.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen trips to Wembley or trips to London were few and far between and we were not as readily flying about the country, it was a big day out in the year with your family, the street, or the town that you’re from.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen all the pubs had the trips, and I was on those trips, whether that be Internationals or Challenge Cup Final, it’s pretty special.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Saints beat Wigan on Good Friday in a never to be forgotten encounter.\n<\/p>\n
\n But for Rowley it was even more special for a couple of reasons.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt’s important, obviously, that I set off on the right foot with St Helens in a new era for me, so to be in a big game now is good, and that’s what we all want, that’s what we strive for, and that’s what we’ve got.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAs a coach, that’s the first time I’ve ever beat Wigan.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSo it was pretty decent for myself.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI was glad to get that one over the line,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The game will be too close to call \u2013 a genuine 50\/50 but Rowley has his own thoughts.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI always stick to what you’d have asked me right before a ball was kicked.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI always try and beat the bookie and they never get it far wrong, and they’ve got Wigan as their favourite.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSo, in that respect, we’ll try and beat the bookie.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Having tasted the Good Friday atmosphere Rowley wants the same again this week.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt’s Wigan and Saints, we’re two good teams.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhat makes it big is the interest, the feeling of both towns, the passion, and obviously the glory that comes with it.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe last experience was the first experience for me and that was special in itself.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSo there will be more of an equal split of supporters this time, so our fans are going to have to sing a little bit louder make sure that we are not being outdone by the Wiganers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wigan stand in the way of a Saints side looking to reach the national stadium for the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-570586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}