Gingdong - dont you think our players have earned the right to play against the best? We managed to beat cas and its at least 3 overseas players

If the best is a team full of overseas players then so be it

Personally i hope you bring as many overseas players as possible it will be an honour to potentially see so many good players gracing our pitch

Id feel a tinge of disappointment if some players listed above were rested although still expecting a quality team regardless

The bit in bold ends the thread for me. The Featherstone players have earned the right to play against top class opposition, by defeating another professional outfit. They deserve to play against the best - not some miss-matched 'lets just field a team that might do the hosts some favours' .. It would be disrespectful.

Born in NZ, brought up over here, went to school just outside Salford, came through the Wigan academy.

Strange that certain fans whose team has just heroically beaten a SL outfit are now appealing to the charity of the next SL team they're to face, instead of bubbling with confidence and telling them to bring it on.

On the day it will be 13 men against 13 men, with nationalities irrelevant. Wigan will be playing under exactly the same rules as Featherstone. Attempts to paint it differently are disingenuous.

Complaints about the Championship's overseas register should be directed to the RFL, not Wigan RL.

However, this is starting to sound distinctly tlike "we have a ready-made excuse if we lose". Not impressed.

I hope we have the best 17 players that are fit playing, that would surely send a message to everyone else left in the cup that we intend to do our best to retain the cup.

I made exactly the same point on GMR.

The Super League teams will still win, but you'll get a few more upsets, close games and wait for it...fans!

People don't want to see part time teams getting smashed.

I also can't see the harm in DR players playing for two clubs either, surely Wigan wouldn't mind Tom Spencer or Matty Russell playing against another Super League team for Leigh, as long as they don't play against Wigan it shouldn't make a difference.

At the moment Super League clubs are playing against weakened Championship teams.

The day the cup needs to start giving handicaps, splitting in to a two tier comp or brings in a rule where overseas players are limited is the day we should just knock it on the head all together. The reality is it's tough work for these championship clubs to compete and shocks will only ever come from the top 2 or 3 clubs but rather that then watering it down or bringing in betting coupon style handicaps.

If I were a Featherstone fan or a Barrow fan or a north Wales crusaders fan etc I'd be made up drawing a big club. Would I think we were going to win the game? Probably not but it brings exposure to my club and brings in income. Do we think sky would touch these cup ties if we started to ban some of the best and most exciting players playing in them?

I'd just be looking forward mainly to watching players like Sam Tomkins, Thomas Leuluai, Sean O'Loughlin, Jeff Lima etc in the flesh because they're top quality and Fev can improve by playing against them.

But you're not a Fev or Barrow fan, so you have no idea how you would react.

They'd be able to play against Super League opposition, just not lower division teams.

Jeff Lima- There's a player who draws in the fans!

Im under no impressions, just want the same rules for both teams in the same cup competition

Thats the whole point bonehead, WERE NOT ALLOWED 5

No i think all teams should play to the same rules in the same cup competition

Its already handicapped your allowed 5 overseas players and us 1

And CC teams budget has been cut that much this year we rely on DR players, then we can't play them.

Heroic Fev give mighty Wigan a scare

Featherstone 24 - 36 Wigan

by Phil WalkInSonItsaShop

Wigan were runaway favourites for this one but heroic Featherstone gave their Super league opponents one mighty scare before the Warriors could get their name in the hat for the next round of the Challenge Cup.

Only a second-half 36-point comeback secured the win for the Warriors, who fielded only Sam Tomkins to make the game fairer for their lower league opposition.

Tomkins said: "I want to apologise to the Wigan fans for the first half. But once my team coach was fixed and I was able to get off the motorway and to the stadium for the second half things were looking up."

In that case, why don't we also make a rule only allowing SL teams to field a team of the same value to their Championship opponents? Forget the nationality issue. If Wigan can't field Hock, Tomkins, Mossop, Farrell etc, then you'll have a real chance.

In fact, why don't we go the whole hog and prevent the SL side from training in their own expensively-built faciltiies in the weeks leading up to the game? Why don't we make them train on a local school pitch?

Why don't we also deprive them of all SL-standard training staff, including head-coach, conditioner, etc?

Why don't we pour twenty pints of ale down their gullets the night before, and make them eat fish and chips and MacDonalds all week? Then we'll have a really, really level playing field.

Do you really want to go on with this?