WEMBLEY and the Rugby League Challenge Cup go hand-in-hand.

Since 1929 the national stadium has hosted some of the most memorable moments in the 13-man code’s history and the players that grace that stage walk in the footsteps of great events of the past.

The spectacular tries of Vollenhoven, Kenny, Lydon and Offiah, the craft and trickery of Messrs Murphy, Goulding and Gregory and of course the misfortune of Don Fox, Derek Noonan and Mark Elia.

It is not just about the past. Just listen to the fans at Castleford, giddy as kippers as they rattled through the full going to Wembley songbook The very idea that the sport’s governing body could even contemplate moving the final away from the iconic venue to restore its shine would probably result in a monumental own goal.

Sure, through necessity during the rebuild between 2000 and 2006, the event went on the road to Cardiff, Murrayfield and Twickenham but it was not the same.

Of those Cardiff came the closest to capturing that magic, particularly in 2004 when Saints and Wigan produced a belter, but once you start moving it about you lose that element of certainty.

The prize is a place at Wembley – home of sporting legends – is highly coveted and one that we should not be wriggling away from.

Of course, this could just be a bargaining tactic to try and secure the venue at a cheaper price.

But I was baffled when I read Super League chief executive Roger Draper’s words in the Guardian the other week I was surprised when he stated: “We’re conscious that the Challenge Cup has lost its shine. It’s probably become our third biggest property. Magic Weekend has overtaken it in terms of fans and we’re conscious of that. There’s a lot we’ve got to sit down and discuss. We’ll look at all the available options and safeguard the event.”

Third! Third? We should be grateful it is not placed behind the Million Pound Game and the Summer Bash.

Let’s look at facts. How can the Challenge Cup be third when, since the return to the redeveloped Wembley Stadium in 2007 the highest gate is more than 84,000 with the lowest being last season’s 76,235.

That ‘low’ gate is still almost 3,000 more than the Super League Grand Final’s record attendance at Old Trafford.

And aside from that, there must be something wrong in the sport’s priorities if we are bigging up a Magic Weekend before a comp as prestigious as the cup.

Magic may be enjoyable to those who attend – but off the field it is essentially like an annual stag do without the rigmarole of a wedding and on it, it artificially skews the league table with the extra game. But that is for a different argument, unless we killed two birds with one stone and made the on the road weekend the last eight of the cup.

If the cup has lost its shine it is down to two factors.

The first is the timing; the Challenge Cup meanders through the whole year with no momentum built between rounds and it then has its three biggest games, the semis and final, in the middle of the kids school holidays.

The second is the regular rounds are hit by the season ticket culture. Fans who pay a chunk for a season ticket seem reluctant to shell out again.

But that does not simply affect the cup – in previous years they have hardly been locking the gate on the all pay Super League play-off games. (But is anyone saying Super League has lost its appeal?) So the prescription for restoring the shine to the cup would be bringing it forward to its traditional May slot (or June), play the rounds every other week apart from a month between the semis and final, and make regular rounds part of the season ticket package.

And - of course - keep it at Wembley!