PAUL Rowley slammed the Challenge Cup organisers after his Leigh Centurions side were knocked off top spot in the Championship while trying to force their way to Wembley.

Leigh were scuppered in their bid to make it through to the last four of the Challenge Cup last Saturday despite a spirited performance at Super League side Warrington Wolves.

They then fell to second place in the league table after Championship title rivals Bradford Bulls beat Batley Bulldogs to move above them.

Rowley is incensed that his side have effectively been penalised for their success in the cup.

"I think they've got it wrong in all parts for the Challenge Cup,” he said.

"The seeding was wrong and the fact they don't allow free weekends for the Championship is wrong.

“The worst case scenario is that all these part-time players who work all week and have families get to have a weekend off.

“I don't think that would be too bad.

"It needs to change.”

Rowley also believes if they had made it into the semi-finals the competition could have had an even bigger impact on their bid to earn promotion.

The last four matches are scheduled to take place the weekend before the start of the middle eight competition, when the bottom four of the Super League and top four of the Championship will do battle to decide the promotion and relegation issues.

"I don't think any Championship club would have done as well under the circumstances,” said Rowley, reflecting on the Centurions’ 34-24 quarter-final defeat.

"It's an amazing achievement by the lads and ultimately we'll settle for the penalty for doing so well.

“But even if a Hull KR or Warrington (who are just above the Super League drop zone and will do battle in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup) find themselves in that middle eight and get to the final, they will find themselves playing at Wembley in the middle of the middle eight series and if we'd beaten Warrington, the semi-final would have been a week before the start of the series.

“It's drastically wrong."

And Rowley’s rant at the organisers did not stop there, after he criticised the new seeding system introduced this year.

“They need to can the seeding - it's not the beauty of the cup,” he said.

“There are full-time clubs in the Championship now so let's give it more respect.

“We would have had to win two more games than the top Super League club to get there.

“It's hard enough as it is, you don't need to give us more hurdles.

“The beauty of the cup is that you can get bottom versus top and that's the magic - don't take the magic away from a competition that has ran perfectly well for 100 years."

Leigh return to league action this weekend with a trip to third-bottom Workington Town on Sunday.

"It will be contrasting from the previous weekend, when we played in front of 10,000 fans,” said Rowley.

“It will be a test of our character.

“It is always a difficult place to go and they have been influenced by duals the last couple of weeks – Wigan have been giving them a big hand up and they are obviously really desperate.

“There are a lot of ingredients there to say it's going to be a really, really difficult fixture.”

Fuifui Moimoi will not be making the trip up the M6 after picking up a one-game ban after being found guilty of dangerous contact against Warrington.