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Commonwealth Games 2002

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  Friday, 15 March, 2002, 06:48 GMT
Sculthorpe: Challenging times
Paul Sculthorpe tells BBC Sport Online that Challenge Cup fever is taking hold of St Helens ahead of their quarter-final clash with Halifax Blue Sox.

There is a real buzz about the camp now that we are at the quarter-final stage of the Challenge Cup.

When you get this far, you begin to sense that the final is within reach - and that means a trip to Murrayfield.


The competition will always be special whenever and wherever it is stage

This is a massive game for us. We want to keep hold of our trophy, but we know it will be just as hard as ever.

Halifax are a tough proposition but we know that we should win if we perform like we know we can.

The key is to defend well. We did that against Salford in the Super League last week, stopping them from scoring a single try.

But we will be tested again by the Blue Sox and we need to make sure we stay solid.

Daryl Cardiss is a threat. He is one of the quickest players around and we must prevent him from getting up a head of steam.

Paul Sculthorpe with the Challenge Cup trophy
Looking to repeat our 2001 triumph
There has been talk about switching the Challenge Cup to a later slot in the rugby league calendar, that maybe it has lost a little of its shine because it gets swallowed up so early in the year.

But the competition will always be special whenever and wherever it is staged.

Just ask our Aussies - Darren Albert, Darren Britt and Barry Ward. They cannot stop talking about it and are really fired up.

I've never played at Murrayfield and would relish the chance of running out there on 27 April.

I'm sure our fans would love a trip to Edinburgh as well. It would make for a terrific weekend.

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