MATCH PREVIEW: 1895 CUP – SHEFFIELD EAGLES (H)

Date: Sunday 18 February 2024

Time: 2pm Kick-off

Location: The Alexander Stadium, Stadium Way, Birmingham, B42 2LR

Tickets:

Storm Card Holder 2024 - FREE

Adult - £15

Concessions (over 65) – £10

U21 - £10 online

U16 - FREE with paying adult

BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR SUNDAY HERE.

Matty Welham's milestone

Before we talk about our opponents

As announced on social media last week, Matty Welham earned his 50th competitive appearance for the Canes during our narrow 24-20 defeat to Rochdale in the Challenge Cup. Given we knew we would be playing at home this weekend, it only made sense that we held off formally celebrating Matty's achievement until we were back at The Alex!

Please join us after the game in the bar (within the main stadium) as we celebrate Matty's milestone with a formal trophy and gift gratefully organised by the Hurricanes Supporters Club. It may also be an opportunity to see all three Welham brothers in person (which we touch on later on in this preview).

Matty Welham is sponsored by Longbridge Taiho Jutsu for the 2024 season.  

The opposition

Our opponents on Sunday are Sheffield Eagles, who are one of our dual-registration partners for the 2024 season. The Eagles history since the Super League era has been mixed, with the club competing in Super League between 1996 and 1999 before being relegated to the equivalent of the Championship, where they stayed for a further three years before being relegated a second time to the third-tier in 2002. After winning promotion to the Championship in 2006, the Eagles have been a mainstay in the second-tier competition and routinely make the playoffs (as they did last year before losing to the eventual winners London Broncos).

The Eagles have had a solid pre-season results wise – they defeated Super League side Hull Kingston Rovers 26-24 in a pre-season friendly, before going on to defeat Doncaster RLFC 22-18 in their first 1895 Cup game and crushing Newcastle Thunder 88-12 in the Third Round of the Challenge Cup (which earned them an away tie against York Knights in the Fourth Round next week).

Their Head Coach, Mark Aston, is a legend of the club, featuring both as a player (where he made over 350 appearances between 1985 and 2004) and Head Coach since 1997 (bar a brief spell away in 2006). He also earned international honours at Sheffield, playing for Great Britain on four occasions between 1991 and 1992, and was coach of the Ireland national team between 2011 and 2017. We look forward to welcoming him and the rest of the club to Birmingham on Sunday.

Head to head

Sunday will be the first competitive fixture between the Canes and the Eagles. Notwithstanding this, the dual-registration partnership between the two clubs means that we have enjoyed multiple opposed training sessions during pre-season and both clubs know far more about each other than fans on the day might expect.

The 1895 Cup

As explained during our match preview for Doncaster, the 1895 Cup has undergone a significant revamp for the 2024 season. Rather than the final four non-Super League sides that enter Round 6 of the Challenge Cup competing in the 1895 Cup semi-finals, 13 sides from the Championship and 8 sides from League One have been split into 7 groups of 3.

The Hurricanes have been drawn into Group 7 with Championship sides Doncaster and Sunday's opponents, Sheffield Eagles, who were the inaugural winners of the 1895 Cup in 2019. Each team will play the other two teams in their group once, with the group winners (and the best-second placed team) advancing to the Quarter-finals. Where a League One side is drawn against a Championship side, the League One team will always have home advantage.

Doncaster have played both of their group games, defeating the Hurricanes 40-4 in late January before losing to Sheffield Eagles 22-18 at the Eco Power Stadium. If Sheffield beat or draw with the Canes on Sunday, they will be guaranteed a place in the quarter finals as they will go top of Group 7. The Canes making the quarter finals is mathematically possible, however it would require Mark Dunning's men to win by a significant margin and for other results to go our way on Sunday.

A foot in both camps?

He may not be available for Sunday's game, but 2024 signing Jason Bass has prior history playing for both clubs. Bass played 66 games in four season for the Canes between 2015 and 2018, scoring 19 tries, before going on to sign for York Knights in 2019 (where he scored 17 tries in 53 games) and Sheffield Eagles in 2022 (where he scored 12 tries in 24 games).

There is also a family connection to tomorrow's game – namely the Welham family. Canes fans will be well aware that brothers Liam and Matty Welham have been key members of the squad since 2020 and 2021 respectively, however their older brother Kris (who will turn 37 next month) has entered his third season with the Eagles having had a lengthy stint in the Super League with both Hull Kingston Rovers and Salford Red Devils. Unfortunately, with Liam prohibited from playing due to failing his HIA against Rochdale and Kris not selected for Sunday, it will be Matty Welham who flies the flag for his family at The Alexander.

Thoughts from the gaffer

Head Coach Mark Dunning:

"Sheffield will be a really big challenge – they finished 4th in the Championship and they're a top quality outfit. I've had a pleasure of coaching a number of the Sheffield lads during previous spells, so I know a lot about them and they know a lot about me. I also have a great relationship with Mark Aston. I'll be sure to shake their hand before kick-off and straight after the final whistle, but for the 80 minutes in-between they're our opponents and we'll treat them that way.

We obviously have a good relationship with them but when 2pm hits on Sunday, its all on. The Championship is a very strong standard of rugby and they'll be a big test for us, but we’re excited to take them on. We want an opportunity to play the best and pit ourselves against the best to improve as a club, and with Sheffield being up there as one of the best of the Championship this is a great chance for us to test what we've been putting together in training."

The venue

We welcome the Eagles to The Alexander Stadium, the venue for the historic 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Please note that because of operational reasons beyond the club's control, this game will be taking place on the warm-up pitch next to the stadium (where we played for the 2023 season). Entry to the warm-up pitch is to the side of the High Performance Centre. Fans driving to the stadium can park in front of the High Performance Centre/Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre (GMAC for short) for free.

Please note that we are a cashless venue and only accept card payments.

Match coverage

For those fans unable to attend on the day, full match updates will be available on our Twitter/X account (@HurricanesRLFC) with half-time and full-time updates to our Instagram (@HurricanesRLFC) and Facebook accounts (Midlands Hurricanes).