HULL KR second rower Cory Paterson wants his first taste of the Challenge Cup to be a sweet one and not wait a year for a second bite.
The 25-year-old Australian admits the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when coach Craig Sandercock played clips of Rovers' famous 10-5 win over Hull in the 1980 final.
And Paterson was blown away when he saw 95,000 fans from the city of Hull at Wembley on May 3.
Rovers last appeared in the cup final in 1986 when they lost to Castleford by a point.
Now, Paterson wants to play his part in ending that 27-year wait to return to the Challenge Cup final.
"Whenever there is a long period of time between major final appearances, you want to be one of the players that ends the drought," he told the Mail.
"It would be nice to have a good cup run but we have to take it game by game and hope to have luck with injuries.
"It's a long time to wait for the next bite of the cup. If we lose, we're out and we'll have to lick our wounds and wait another year.
"Craig showed us a few clips and it was great to see the emotion and passion. The players played with a massive crowd cheering them on and on their return to Hull.
"It created a buzz with me and I'm sure the other players feel the same way, especially the local blokes who have grown up with this competition."
This is a chance for Paterson to add his name to the ever growing list of Australians to play in the prestigious cup competition.
Paterson hasn't experienced a knock-out competition since taking part in the Aboriginal knock-out competition for indigenous teams.
It falls short when compared to the Challenge Cup, but he is keen to soak up everything associated with the competition.
"The cup is highly regarded in this country," he said. "It has a rich tradition and I'm proud to be a part of it. I've bought into it and I'll be giving it the respect it deserves.
"It would be massive for the fans as well if we do well in it.
"The overseas players who have been at Rovers a few years are very passionate about it too. It would be nice to win it, but it is a very hard competition."
With it being a sudden-death knock-out game, Paterson expects the intensity to be cranked up, more so than for a Super League game.
Two weeks ago, Rovers beat Saints 22-14 at MS3 Craven Park, but says that counts for very little today against a St Helens side that reached 11 successive cup semi-finals before Wigan ended that run in 2011.
Paterson knows they face a Saints side desperate to win.
"This game will be a bit faster and more physical because it's do-or-die," said Paterson.
"We know we are in for a tough test after beating them so recently.
"They are a good side and we are ready. That win has given us an air of confidence but it can work the other way.
"Saints will want to exact revenge and make up for that league loss.
"They will see a cup win against us as the perfect way to get back at us.
"By no means will we be complacent against them."
Saints have a terrible record at MS3 Craven Park. They haven't won in east Hull since beating Rovers 24-18 in the 2008 cup quarter-finals.
If Rovers are to advance to the fifth round, they are going to have to start well as wins have come when the Robins have got off to a flyer.
"We need to start well with a lot of intent in defence and stay in the arm-wrestle," Paterson said.
"The last thing we need is for us to be chasing our tail and for Saints to blow us away.
"It's not too difficult to see that we need to shore up our defence a bit.
"We know we can score points because at Huddersfield we scored 30, but leaked 50.
"We need to work on a few aspects of our defence and take that into the cup game.
"We've addressed them and we'll be looking to nullify Saints as best we can. We'll find out soon enough if we have improved or not."
