I notice there's only two weeks between the QFs and the SFs - have the venues for the SFs already been decided, or is it worked out hastily following the conclusion of all the matches ie not until Tuesday 16th at the earliest?

Out of interest, If there was a London v Catalans SF, where would it be played?

Huddersfield. Probably.

They have already been decided following discussions between all the teams

if London and catalan get through and play each other, it wont be at Huddersfield


wouldn't suprise me if they played it in London

wigan, warrington, hull, hudds or even widnes and Sheffield involved I think we'll see hudds and doncasters' keepmoat chosen, if by some chance wigan and warrington get drawn together, saints ground would be the best option

Donny isnt an option now the football team call the shots there

if they offer the right money you never know

Why not just play at the ground of the team who is drawn at home, just like every other round. If home advantage is unfair then shouldn't be the same for every round?

If Catalan win their QF we really should hold a semi in the south of France IMO, but it would no doubt push the whippet brigade over the edge.

Hopefully in the future we can use the lull in European football around these matches to our advantage.

A return to Barcelona might have been interesting if we ever considered a move like that? Slightly more neutral, but also the Catalan name might've pulled in a few.

Cost and logistics also have to be borne in mind with such a short turnaround between the quarters and semi-finals.

Personally I'd play them both as a double-header somewhere on the M62 corridor. The concept of trying to find a venue somewhere inbetween the two teams is outdated IMO, and didn't seem to come into the equation when Leeds-Saints game were being played at Wigan for example.

Good call. Though I still think the scheduling of the Challenge Cup needs reviewing massively too - the gaps just seem far too arbitrary.

No but that was over ten years ago when probably the only choices were Wigan or Huddersfield. We've had some quality venues built since then. That said I think a double header would attract some neutrals as well, if its correctly priced.

London v Catalan at a neutral venue in this country would be lucky to attract 500 spectators.

Play it in France, Toulouse maybe, and you'd get over 10 times that figure.

Tv talks which is why we have the huge gap and the BBC wont go for a double header they like there Sat and Sun game.

I think there is the possibility of a semi-final in France

Sheffield/London vs Catalans - Toulouse
Sheffield/London vs Hull/Huddersfield - Headingley
Sheffield/London/Catalans vs Warrington - Widnes
Sheffield/London/Catalans vs Wigan/Widnes - HJ Stadium

Hull vs Huddersfield - Headingley
Hull vs Warrington/Wigan/Widnes - John Smith's

Huddersfield vs Catalans - Headingley
Huddersfield vs Widnes/Wigan - HJ Stadium
Huddersfield vs Warrington - Widnes

Warrington vs Wigan/Widnes - Langtree Park

Can't see much past these venues being used.

Id suggest a certain Leigh based sports village could be used as well

Leigh will certainly be big enough, no matter who,s there

I doubt Widnes will be used, teams won't want to play on the iPitch.

They managed a two week turnaround between round 5 and the QF last year, with Cats v Wire televised. Semi final crowds have been poor here the past couple of years, take it to somewhere like Avignon and you are guaranteed a big crowd. Great PR too.

Two pages about the Challenge Cup and no demand for "cheap tickets" yet? What the hell is going on?

And Halifax, I believe.

I think we should take one semi to Moscow and the other to New York. Think of the PR and the hundreds of thousands of new people that will be addicted to our game.

You know what, with a little bit of money behind it we could easily get as many in Moscow or New York than we would in Cas or Leigh.

That’s not anything particular in favour of Moscow or New York mind…………

And didn't matter when Saints played leeds and then Bradford at Huddersfield !