 Super League clubs enter the race for the trophy in round four |
The coming of spring brings with it warmer days, softer pitches, the Challenge Cup fourth round and the potential for giant-killing.
So it would be understandable if there was a slight feeling of anti-climax when the fourth-round draw paired Featherstone, the BBC Sport website's latest Road to Twickenham team, with Keighley Cougars.
That is not to say there will be any lack of competition when the two National League Two sides meet on Sunday, 2 April.
"You are a bit disappointed because obviously you want a Super League side to try to prove yourself," Rovers captain Stuart Dickens told BBC Sport.
"But if you get drawn at home to a team from the same division, you think you're in with a decent chance."
 |  Hopefully the Cup will kick-start our season |
Relegated from National League One last season, Featherstone have struggled for form lately in the Northern Rail Cup, so Dickens says he hopes the team will be inspired by the Cup.
"In the last round, we played an amateur side, so we were on a flogging to nothing," he said.
"Now we've got a home draw, which is all we can hope for. Hopefully the Cup will kick-start our season."
The game sees Keighley's hugely experienced coach Peter Roe return to one of his old stomping grounds, Post Office Road.
He was in charge of Featherstone from 1999-2002, before leaving to take charge of Wakefield.
And while Dickens admits Rovers have struggled of late, Roe says all the signs for his team are good.
"Our season has been kick-started by our mission statement of giving youth a chance, " he said.
| I'll see some old friends there, but the main business is that the team put on a decent performance |
"We lost 13 or 14 players in the summer and our average age is only 22, so we've put together some decent performances. What we need to do is to continue making progress. We're underdogs, but we like that."
Having played under Roe for several years, Dickens cites him as a significant influence on his career and a great motivator of players.
But although the old friends will be happy to see one another again on match day, Roe makes it clear there is no room for sentiment.
"I'm thoroughly looking forward to going back to Featherstone," he said. "I had a great relationship with everyone there, and there was a mutual appreciation of how I left.
"I'll see some old friends there, but the main business is that the team put on a decent performance."
Although both sides might have hoped for a more glamorous fourth-round tie, the fact they are playing a team from their own division increases their chance of staying in the competition.
"We've improved in the last few weeks, so if we play to our potential, the result should take care of itself," said Dickens.
| The money-spinner is on hold until the next round, so the emphasis is placed on winning this one |
"Then away at Headingley would be my ideal fifth-round draw."
Roe adopts a similarly positive approach to having missed out on a big club in round four.
"The money-spinner is on hold until the next round, so the emphasis is placed on winning this one," he said.
"There's a lot of responsibility on winning this game."
MMIX
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