The World Club Challenge will be held at DW Stadium this weekend, giving you the chance to become the greatest club team in world rugby league.
here, mirror sports We look at all the key facts and talking points ahead of the battle between Super League champions Wigan Warriors and current NRL premiers Penrith Panthers. It should be a fascinating contest as some of the biggest names in the sports world are set to compete against each other. Will Wigan’s breathtaking Australian stars Bevan French and Jay Field evoke their famous victory over their compatriots?
Or that NRL champions Penrith, with icy Nathan Cleary on the strings, will further their belief with a smash and grab raid on a whistle-stop tour of England to lift their first ever World Club Challenge. They could be one of the best club teams of all time. As of last month, all 23,500 tickets had been sold out, so a packed audience will be in attendance to watch everything unfold.
date: Saturday, February 24th
kick off: 8pm
venue: DW Stadium
coverage: Live on BBC Two, Sky Sports Arena and SuperLeague+ from 7.30pm
5 Sports Extra with Dave Woods and Paul Rowley at 7:45 p.m.
what is that? : The World Club Challenge is an annual showdown between the champions of the Super League competition (English clubs and Catalan clubs) and the NRL champions (Australian clubs and New Zealand Warriors).
Who will be playing this year?: Matt Peat’s Wigan Warriors, who defeated the Catalans in last year’s Super League Grand Final, will take on Ivan Cleary’s star-studded NRL champions Penrith Panthers at a packed DW Stadium.
key battle : Harry Smith (Wigan) v Nathan Cleary (Penrith)
Wigan’s young scrum-half Smith made his England debut last year and was instrumental in the 3-0 series against Tonga.
But this will be the 22-year-old’s biggest test against perhaps the greatest player on the planet at the moment.
Kangaroos No7 Cleary is a superstar who almost single-handedly pulled Penrith back from the brink of defeat to glory in last year’s NRL Grand Final.
He has won three consecutive titles as the team’s co-captain, has unparalleled prowess in the kicking game, knows how to control the biggest situations and exemplifies calm under pressure. There is.
Cleary, who won the 2021 World Cup with Australia and NSW, saw another young English scrumhalf, St Helens’ Lewis Dodd, steal Penrith’s thunder in last year’s tournament. Desperate to get the one trophy missing from the cabinet. The dramatic World Club Challenge is below.
Smith was guilty of a chip tackle in Saturday’s Super League opener at Castleford and was lucky to be able to play after avoiding a suspension.
He will now be out to make the most of his shot against the NRL’s golden boy and current GQ Australian Sportsman of the Year.
World Club Challenge Statistics
-
Wigan is It will be his ninth appearance in the World Club Challenge, and a win would equal his previous record with the Sydney Roosters, which was his fifth appearance.
-
Wigan captain Liam Farrell is the only player to have won the competition, having been instrumental in the win over Cronulla in 2017.
-
Penrith have never lifted a World Club Challenge, losing all three of their games: against Wigan in 1991, against Bradford in 2004 and at home to St Helens in 2023.
-
The first World Club Championship/Challenge Match took place on Tuesday 29 June 1976, when Eastern Suburbs (now Sydney Roosters) defeated St Helens 25-2 in front of a crowd of 26,856 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
-
Since Wigan’s 8-2 win over Manly established the World Club Challenge on the calendar in 1987 (there was only one showdown in 1976), English clubs have won 14 of their 27 matches. .
-
Leeds Rhinos “Golden Generation” Trio Rob Barrow, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Jamie Peacock share record for most World Club Challenge appearances: 7
-
But in terms of wins, the Peacocks stand alone: 4 wins (Bradford – v Newcastle 2002; v Penrith 2004; Leeds – v Melbourne 2008; v Manly 2012)
World Club Challenge 1987-2023
July 10, 1987 Wigan 8 Manly 2 (Wigan, Central Park) Number of attendees: 36,895 people
10/10/89 Widnes 30 Canberra 18 (Old Trafford, Manchester) Number of attendees: 30,786 people
February 10, 1991 Wigan 21 Penrith 4 (Anfield, Liverpool) Number of attendees: 20,152 people
92/10/30 Brisbane 22 Wigan 8 (Central Park, Wigan) Number of attendees: 17,746 people
1994/1/6 Wigan 20 Brisbane 14 (ANZ Stadium, Brisbane) Number of attendees: 54,220 people
2000/1/22 Melbourne 44 St Helens 6 (JJB Stadium, Wigan) Number of attendees: 13,394 people
2001/1/26 St Helens 20 Brisbane 18 (Reebok Stadium, Bolton) Number of attendees: 16,041 people
January 2, 2002 Bradford 41 Newcastle 26 (McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield) Number of attendees: 21,113 people
2003/2/14 Sydney Roosters 38 St Helens 0 (Reebok Stadium, Bolton) Number of attendees: 19,807 people
February 13, 2004 Bradford 22 Penrith 4 (McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield) Number of attendees: 18,962 people
April 2, 2005 Leeds 39 Bulldogs 32 (Elland Road, Leeds) Number of attendees: 37,028 people
March 2, 2006 Bradford 30 West Tigers 10 (Galferm Stadium, Huddersfield) Number of attendees: 19,207 people
2007/2/23 St Helens 18 Brisbane 14 (Reebok Stadium, Bolton) Number of attendees: 23,207 people
2008/2/29 Leeds 11 Melbourne 4 (Elland Road, Leeds) Number of attendees: 33,204 people
January 3, 2009 Manly 28 Leeds 20 (Elland Road, Leeds) Number of attendees: 32,569 people
10/2/28 Melbourne 18 Leeds 10 (Elland Road, Leeds) Number of attendees: 27,697 *
2011/2/27 St George Illawarra 21 Wigan 15 (DW Stadium, Wigan) Number of attendees: 24,268 people
12/2/17 Leeds 26 Manly 12 (Leeds, Headingley Carnegie) Number of attendees: 21,062 people
2013/2/22 Melbourne 18 Leeds 14 (Leeds, Headingley Carnegie) Number of attendees: 20,400 people
2014/2/22 Sydney Roosters 36 Wigan 14 (Allianz Stadium, Sydney) Number of attendees: 31,515 people
2015/2/22 South Sydney 39 St Helens 0 (Langtree Park, St Helens) Number of attendees: 17,980 people
21/2/16 North Queensland 38 Leeds 4 (Leeds, Headingley Carnegie) Number of attendees: 19,778 people
19/2/17 Wigan 22 Cronulla 6 (DW Stadium, Wigan) Number of attendees: 21,011 people
16/2/18 Melbourne 38 Leeds 4 (AAMI Park, Melbourne) Number of attendees: 19,062 people
17/2/19 Sydney Roosters 20 Wigan 8 (DW Stadium, Wigan) Number of attendees: 21,331 people
2020/2/22 Sydney Roosters 20 St Helens 12 (Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens) Number of attendees: 16,108 people
18/2/23 St Helens 13 Penrith 12 (aet) (Bluebet Stadium, Penrith) Number of attendees: 13,873 people