The Sonics' success in winning the West Midlands Division and reaching the national Grand Final earned them a record number of nominations at the annual Rugby League Conference Awards. At the ceremony in November, Bristol were named Rugby League Conference Team of the Year 2008. In December, the Sonics were invited by the Rugby Football League to enter the 2009 Challenge Cup. On 18 October, Bristol Sonics were drawn at home in the preliminary round against British student champions Leeds Met Carnegie University. The game was played in January 2009 at Aretians RFC in Little Stoke, Bristol. Bristol opened the try scoring, but ended up losing 52–8 to the students., 'Challenge Cup comes to Bristol', TotalRL Forums.
