One thing Ben Arbon had to contend with before today’s huge Challenge Cup game against St Helens was whether he’d be working or not.

That’s because, like all his West Hull team-mates, he simply plays rugby league for fun. Not money. Yet the community club, founded by the late Hull FC and Great Britain legend Johnny Whiteley, are now preparing to face Super League giants Saints.

Second-row Arbon explained: "I’m a maintenance engineer at a hospital in Hull, and I work shift patterns. I have to work one in five Saturdays, and I put down to work this one because it was only 50/50; we'd get past Hunslet in the last round. We had about eight players missing.

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"It’d have been a little weird going to work Saturday morning before playing St Helens. But I’ve been told I don’t have to go in now. I’ll have my usual prep—pepperoni pizza on Friday night—and get ready to go."

One of the top National Conference League sides, this is undoubtedly the biggest day in the club’s history. But the amateur lads are taking it all in stride as they prepare to face the likes of England stars Jack Welsby and Alex Walmsley.

Arbon admitted: "We were talking about it on my dinner break on Thursday. The Saints squad got announced, and lads were asking who I’d be up against.

"I think Konrad Hurrell and Joe Batchelor are opposite me. It’ll be a good test. Hurrell played for Tonga for years, and Batchelor was in the last World Cup with England.

"We did some defence and fitness work Tuesday night, and then Thursday night was more game-related stuff, getting our attack right. But if it’s Hurrell and Batchelor on my side, I don’t think there’ll be many weaknesses! We’ve just got to put our best foot forward and don’t give in. If we do that, I’ll be a happy man.”

Arbon was on Hull FC’s books as a teenager. He said: “I was there until I was 16—and got released for Jez Litten. I was a hooker then. They had to bring so many up from the younger age group, and I was in the same position as Jez. Luckily for me, Jez has gone on to Super League with Hull KR and England.”

Today’s tie has been switched to KR’s Craven Park because West Hull’s Johnny Whiteley Park is not up to standard. Fellow amateurs York Acorn and Wests Warriors—who face Hull and Leeds Rhinos, respectively, today—have encountered the same issue.

It removed the enticing prospect of Super League stars like Zak Hardaker, Jake Connor, and Tristan Sailor being hunted down in local mudbaths.

Arbon, who's been at West Hull since the age of four, admitted: "It is a shame it couldn’t be played at West Hull. That would have given us a bit of an advantage.

"Super League clubs were told they had to come in at round three this season and play away from home. But the rules and regulations of playing at an amateur club’s ground make it virtually impossible for us to host the game.

"There will be two or three thousand people attending on Saturday. I know loads of diehard Hull FC fans who are watching us rather than travelling to Featherstone to see them face York Acorn.

"I don’t think we’d have been able to accommodate that number. “But it’d have been good in 15 years’ time when we’re all retired to say: “Bloody hell, remember when we played Saints down at West Hull?’

"I think this is the only year it [playing Super League opponents] will happen, though, and luckily it’s happened for us."

It is likely the format could be changed again next year, but Arbon refutes the notion that amateurs facing top-flight opponents is a safety risk.

He said: "I don’t think it’s dangerous. They’re at that level because they're at a better level than us. But at the end of the day, we all play for the love of the game, and there has to be something there for us to do that.

"It’s not like we’re 1,000 miles behind in quality. You might not get picked up for one reason, and then you join an amateur team because you like to play with your mates and there’s not much pressure.

"They play full-time. We train twice a week and play Saturdays. “But we all go to the gym . I think it’s good that we get this chance."