Warrington Wolves head coach on Catalans Challenge Cup tie

However, their bid to do that comes under quite possibly the sternest examination the competition can offer on Saturday – a trip to Perpignan to face an in-form Catalans Dragons side.

And Powell is under no illusions about what his side can expect at the Stade Gilbert Brutus as they look to avoid exiting the competition at the first hurdle for the second year running.

Wire were knocked out of the Challenge Cup at the first hurdle by Wakefield Trinity last year

They have not reached the final since their memorable Wembley win of 2019 and while the road may be shorter than it used to be, it remains littered with huge obstacles – none bigger, it seems, than the first of them.

“You don’t have to play as many games as you used to to get to a final now,” Powell said.

“The games are interspersed with league matches which complicates it a little bit but if you manage to put three decent games together, you’re doing alright. It can happen pretty quickly.

“We want to play well and win this game because if we don’t, that’s it – that’s knockout rugby league.

“We’re looking pretty strong, there’s extra motivation for a couple of our ex-Catalans boys and it’s a great opportunity for us.

“If you’re going to win the Challenge Cup, you have to fight your way through some tough battles and we’re starting out with one of the toughest.”

Wire have not reached the Challenge Cup Final since winning the competition in 2019 (Image: Mike Boden)

Of course, The Wire will cross the English Channel in the knowledge that they have very recent history of winning in the hostile surroundings of the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

They emerged 20-14 victors in a highly-charged game that saw Gil Dudson sent off for punching Tom Johnstone, with Josh Thewlis’ late try sealing the win for Wire’s 12 men.

Perhaps poetically, Dudson returns from the five-match ban handed down to him for that red card this week to boost Powell’s options against a Dragons side who are also close to full strength.

Sam Tomkins, Mitchell Pearce, Michael McIlorum and Manu Ma’u were among the players unavailable to Steve McNamara in last month’s meeting but all of them are set to play this time around.

“We’ve just got to go there and play our game but we have to play it for 80 minutes,” Powell said.

“Last time out there, it took everything we had to win that game.

Josh Thewlis celebrates last month's Super League win in Perpignan (Image: Joe Richardson)

“They’re a good team – they reeled Saints in a couple of weeks back from 12-0 down. We don’t want to be starting poorly as they’re dangerous everywhere you look.

“They’re a really big, physical team, Tomkins and Pearce are playing well in the halves and Morgue is really sharp at the back.

“They will come after us physically and it will be a real challenge. We will need to be excellent.

“We know what we have to do – we know the way they’re going to defend and we pretty much know how they’re going to attack.

“You know what you’re facing but it’s about dealing with it on the day. That ability to deal with situations and scenarios that come up is the key thing.

“Ultimately, you try and start the way you want to and play how you want to play until the situation arises when you have to do something a bit different.

“We practice that all the time and hopefully we’ll be able to manage what is a very volatile and hostile environment over there.

“It’s different to anything else you face in the comp but hopefully, we’ll handle it well again.”

As well as getting some of their biggest guns back into the side, Catalans have also dipped into the recruitment market since the sides last met.

Australian centre Matt Ikuvalu has joined from NRL side Cronulla Sharks and has scored in both of his Dragons appearances so far.

Matt Ikuvalu scores on his Catalans debut against St Helens earlier this month after joining from Cronulla Sharks (Image: SWPix.com)

While he may bring somewhat of an unknown quantity, Powell has backed the ability of his left-edge defence to handle what he throws at them.

“He’s different and a lot of our boys won’t have played against him,” Powell said.

“He looks strong and powerful with a bit of skill about him, but our left edge has been defending pretty well all season. They know the challenge that’s in front of them.

“Some of the things Catalans are doing by throwing flat shapes at your edges are pretty dangerous and he’s looked handy fitting into that.”