Last push for Sampson

Prop Sampson will be 35 in two months time

Castleford Tigers' Dean Sampson has admitted that this year's Challenge Cup will be his last chance to collect a winner's medal.

The 34-year-old veteran prop forward missed out on a medal in dramatic fashion in 1999 when he was part of a Castleford side who were beaten by a last-minute try against London Broncos at Headingley.

He was also in the Castleford side that lost out to Wigan in the 1992 final in Wembley.

It is great going back to get the monkey off our back from 1999

Dean Sampson

And Sampson, the oldest player in the Super League, is determined that this time Castleford will make Wigan pay for previous disappointments.

"They say never look back but I just cannot seem to get it out of my head," said Sampson. "It really, really hurt and it still does."

"It rankles with me that I didn't finish the game. I feel I should have stayed on the field and we would have won," he said.

"The game was practically in the bag. It backfired tragically and we got knocked out of the cup. It has certainly left me with an unfulfilled ambition."

Sampson, who signed for the club just a month after their last cup success in 1986, was also in the side which beat a Wigan team including Shaun Edwards and Jason Robinson in the 1994 Regal Trophy final.

"Coming back to Castleford and being part of the celebrations was fantastic. This is my last chance to recreate that.

"Wigan were red-hot favourites, just as they will be on Saturday, but it was one of those days when everything went right for us.

"In every big game apart from that, they've taken it off us.

"They are a big-game team and they have got big-game players," he said.

"What we have got to do is what we did on Sunday - do all the little things right, go forward, quick play-the-balls with a lot of support and take the right options.

"We are not going to score that many points but I think Wigan will struggle to hold us if we play like we did on Sunday."

Sampson added: "I love playing at Headingley. We always seem to have big games there.

"And it is great going back to get the monkey off our back from 1999."

Live coverage of Wigan v Castleford (kick-off 1500) on Grandstand, BBC One, 13 April 2002 at 1445