Wigan Warriors 2013 double-winner and League 1 coach to conduct Challenge Cup draws, ball numbers confirmed

Taylor, who was a part of the 2013 double-winning Wigan squad and further won the Challenge Cup twice with hometown club Hull FC, has been appointed as the head coach of Goole Vikings when they join League 1 in 2025 - meaning they will be in the second round draw for the first time.

2024 Steve Prescott Man of Steel Lewis and Wakefield Trinity full-back Jowitt will also help conduct the draws as community clubs kick-off the action of the prestigious competition.

Orrell St James, Ince Rose Bridge and Leigh Miners Rangers are among those that will be part of the first round draw, which will be shown live on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app from 6:30pm on Monday.

That will be followed by the second round draw when the 12 English teams in the Betfred Championship and the 11 clubs from Betfred League 1 join the 17 first round winners to produce 20 ties – the winners of which will be joined by the 12 Betfred Super League big guns in the third round draw in January.

The third round draw will be seeded to guarantee each of the Super League clubs travel away to one of the 20 second round winners, to be played at the start of February. The fourth round (comprising 16 clubs) will be played in March, the quarter-finals in April and the semi-finals on the weekend of May 10-11, leaving the winners with four weeks to prepare for the 2025 Betfred Challenge Cup Final on Saturday June 7.

The ball numbers for the first two round draws have been confirmed as follows: 1 - British Army, 2 - RAF, 3 - Royal Navy; 4 – Maryport (Cumberland Rugby League); 5 - GB Police; 6 – Longhorns (Ireland Rugby League); 7 - Telford Raiders (Harry Jepson Trophy winners); 8 - Crosfields, 9 - Dewsbury Moor, 10 - Hunslet ARLFC, 11 - Ince Rose Bridge, 12 - Leigh Miners Rangers, 13 - Lock Lane, 14 - Oulton Raiders, 15 - Rochdale Mayfield, 16 - Siddal, 17 - Thatto Heath (BARLA National Cup winners), 18 - Waterhead Warriors, 19 - Wath Brow Hornets, 20 - West Bowling, 21 - West Hull, 22 - York Acorn; 23 - Blackbrook, 24 - Haresfinch, 25 - Orrell St James; 26 – Mirfield; 27 – Edinburgh Eagles (Scotland Rugby League); 28 - Eastern Rhinos; 29 - Hammersmith Hills Hoists; 30 - London Chargers; 31 - Wests Warriors; 32 – Aberavon Fighting Irish (Wales Rugby League); 33 – Doncaster Toll Bar, 34 - Stanley Rangers.

1 – Barrow Raiders, 2 – Batley Bulldogs, 3 – Bradford Bulls, 4 - Cornwall, 5 - Dewsbury Rams, 6 - Doncaster, 7 - Featherstone Rovers, 8 - Goole Vikings, 9 - Halifax Panthers, 10 - Hunslet, 11 - Keighley Cougars, 12 – London Broncos, 13 - Midlands Hurricanes, 14 - Newcastle Thunder, 15 - North Wales Crusaders, 16 - Oldham, 17 - Rochdale Hornets, 18 - Sheffield Eagles, 19 - Swinton Lions, 20 - Whitehaven, 21 - Widnes Vikings, 22 - Workington Town, 23 - York Knights, 24-40 First Round Winners.