Cup heroes: Shaun Edwards

Even before I hit the floor I thought I'd broken my jaw, but the cheekbone was so depressed I couldn't move it Shaun Edwards

Shaun Edwards played in a total of 11 Challenge Cup finals, 10 of which were for hometown team Wigan.

He won nine of them, losing with Wigan in 1984 and as a London player in 1999.

Sandwiched in between those two defeats were nine Cup final victories, a record that is unlikely to be bettered.

The scrum-half also played in every Cup tie between 1988 and 1995 as Wigan rattled up a record-breaking eight consecutive Cup final wins.

Edwards clearly has a bucketload of memories from that glorious era but, surprisingly, his most vivid is also his most painful:

"It was against Warrington in the 1990 final, the game in which I fractured my eye socket and broke my cheekbone," he tells BBC Sport.

"Bob Jackson hit me with a late tackle in the ninth minute and there was an accidental clash of heads.

"Even before I hit the floor I thought I'd broken my jaw, but the cheekbone was so depressed I couldn't move it.

"The first thing that went through my mind was what a waste because I'd done a lot of training in the build-up to the final.

"I'd got a broken hand, so for three weeks I cut myself off and trained very, very hard just to make sure I was fit.

"I was determined not to go off and let all that hard work count for nothing.

I had double vision for a while, so I was running around with one eye shut Shaun Edwards

"I could still run, it was just a case of coping with the pain.

"I have never had an injury as painful as that before or since, but somehow I coped.

"I had double vision for a while, so I was running around with one eye shut. But I felt I had to keep going.

"I owe a big debt to Dean Bell. He was a big inspiration on the field. And we won, so it was all worth while."