Tyrone Roberts
Tyrone Roberts

Warrington's Tyrone Roberts aiming for goodbye gift in Challenge Cup


Warrington half-back Tyrone Roberts is determined to leave his Super League club with a parting gift before he returns to Australia at the end of the season.

The former Newcastle and Gold Coast playmaker arrived in England with the ambition to win a major trophy and top of his wish list is the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup as the Wolves prepare to take on Leeds in the second semi-final at Bolton on Sunday.

Sky Bet make Warrington 2/5 favourites with Leeds priced up at 2/1.

"It was one of my goals when I made the decision to come here," said Roberts, who is cutting short his stay as the Wolves' marquee player for family reasons.

"I'm doing what I can for this team. Whatever happens next season, I'll leave that until the end of the year when I'm finished."

The 27-year-old was Warrington's first marquee player but made a low-key start to the season and has produced his best football since announcing his decision to activate an opt-out clause in his three-year contract.

"I wanted to do that from the start but I had so many niggles," he explained. "I'm not making excuses for my lack of footy but I wasn't 100 per cent.

"But now I feel great and I'm enjoying my footy in the sun. I think it's building something good coming into the semis.

"It's the best time of the year to be playing footy."

Despite their last-gasp defeat by Super League leaders St Helens last week, the Wolves remain handily placed for the semi-finals but Roberts says the excitement has been building for the cup.

"The boys didn't really talk about it much until we got to the semis but now it's become a big thing, we're only one game away from Wembley," he said.

"The boys have told me it's similar to playing in a Grand Final, it's a great thing to win."

Roberts cannot wait to run out in front of a capacity 28,000 crowd at the University of Bolton Stadium after being blown away by the noise of the fans in Super League.

"The atmosphere over here is crazy," he said. "The Magic Weekend was good but the fans are not as close as the local games. The fans are real close and you can hear everything.

"Back home they're not as loud. We get big crowds but they're not as loud as here."

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