Salford's Flanagan, who retires at the end of this season, said: "The Challenge Cup holds something a little bit special for me with the tradition around and it would be unbelievable to get there and get the win."
Friday 2 October 2020 11:14, UK
As a nine-year-old, Mark Flanagan watched on enthralled by what has gone down as one of the most compelling finals in the Challenge Cup's history.
Along with his father, former Great Britain international Terry, Flanagan was among the 78,550 in attendance at Wembley on a balmy May afternoon in 1996 which saw St Helens fight back from 14 points down to overcome Bradford Bulls 40-32 in the first final of the Super League era.
It was that game which fired the ambition of playing on one of rugby league's grandest stages for the youngster and, as he prepares to hang up his boots at the end of the season, the now-32-year-old has one more opportunity to reach it with Salford Red Devils in Saturday's semi-final against Warrington Wolves.
"I remember my dad taking me to watch the Bradford-Saints Wembley final when Steve Prescott scored a couple of tries and Robbie Paul got a hat-trick, and that fire was lit inside me that day of playing at Wembley and on the biggest stage," Flanagan said.
"It would be pretty special, I must admit. I'm not very sentimental in terms of matches, medals and shirts, but playing at Wembley with a great group of blokes for a great club would be quite a fitting send-off for myself.
"It's the experience and going through it with a bunch of blokes and earning something that you can share with the blokes and with your family."
Flanagan has been through plenty of highs and lows since signing for the Red Devils at the end of the 2015 season, from the nerve-shredding drama of the 2016 Million Pound Game to last year's run to the Super League Grand Final where they were ultimately beaten by his former club St Helens.
I'm not very sentimental in terms of matches, medals and shirts, but playing at Wembley with a great group of blokes for a great club would be quite a fitting send-off for myself.
Even though this pandemic-affected Super League season has not quite repeated those highs, the fact the club are now just 80 minutes away from an appearance in the sport's other major domestic showpiece is a sign of the progress Salford have made under Ian Watson's stewardship.
And as far as Flanagan is concerned, he could not have wished for a better place to spend what have turned out to be the final seasons of his career.
"When I first signed for Salford it had the reputation it was a rollercoaster of a club and it has been a bit of a rollercoaster on the field, but to a good level," Flanagan said. "If you look back to the Million Pound Game, it could have ended so badly but we scraped back into Super League.
"There have been Grand Finals and flirting with relegation from Super League at other times, but it's been an enjoyable and slightly stressful five years and I'm so glad I made the decision to sign for them."
You have to go back 51 years to find the last time Salford graced the hallowed turf of Wembley and even further for their sole Challenge Cup triumph, when a team coached by Lance Todd - the man whose name now adorns the final's man of the match prize - beat Barrow 7-4 in 1938.
Even if the Red Devils do follow up their midweek Super League win over Warrington and overcome the holders at the Totally Wicked Stadium this weekend though, their fans will be unable to join them for the big day on October 17 as the current covid-19 restrictions means all games must still be played behind closed doors.
Flanagan is naturally disappointed that is the case, but it would not lessen the sense of occasion for the back row even without that atmosphere which makes finals so special.
"When you envisage and dream about playing at Wembley or Old Trafford, probably the first thing you think about is playing in front of 70,000 or 80,000 people in unbelievable atmosphere," Flanagan said.
"If we get there that won't be the case, but it's been a strange old year and there are a lot more important and sobering things happening in the world than for us to whinge about playing in an empty Wembley.
"I'd just be happy to play there and tell the kids and grandkids one day I played at Wembley. It would be a shame if it was only in front of 50 people, but I'd take it."
By his own admission, the Oldham native has exceeded his own expectations during his 11-year professional career, which has included playing two seasons in the NRL with Wests Tigers and being part of St Helens' 2014 Super League Grand Final triumph.
A Challenge Cup final appearance has so far eluded him though, despite being at Wigan Warriors, Saints and Salford when those clubs have previously reached this stage of the tournament.
I've far exceeded where I wanted to be, but you play rugby and sport to win things and I've always aspired to win both trophies.
It is no surprise therefore he is eager to both get to one and earn that winners' medal to go alongside his Grand Final ring.
"I'm really content with what I've done in the game and I've exceeded all my expectations I had as a kid," Flanagan said. "When I was 15 or 16, loads of kids around me got signed [for professional clubs] and I wasn't one, but through some graft I got from where I wanted to be.
"I've far exceeded where I wanted to be, but you play rugby and sport to win things and I've always aspired to win both trophies.
"The Challenge Cup holds something a little bit special for me with the tradition around and it would be unbelievable to get there and get the win."
