World Club Challenge

World Club Challenge
Current season or competition: 2011 World Club Challenge
Sport	Rugby league football
Instituted	1989
Inaugural season	1976
Number of teams	2
Region	International (RFL[1])
World Champions	St George Illawarra Dragons (2011)
Broadcast partner	Sky Sports
Related competitions	Super League National Rugby League

The World Club Challenge (also known as the Probiz World Club Challenge due to sponsorship and previously called the World Club Championship) is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club. The first match of its kind was played in 1976 but it did not become a regular part of the World rugby league calendar until the late 1980s. The World Club Challenge's history was also punctuated by the 1990s' Super League war but has been held every year since 2000. To date only English and Australian sides have competed in the World Club Challenge. The St George Illawarra Dragons are the current champions, defeating the Wigan Warriors 21 – 15 in the 2011 World Club Challenge.

History

The competition began unofficially in 1976 as a match between the Sydney and English champions. In 1987 another unofficial match took place when Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsay invited Manly-Warringah to Central Park.^[2] The first official World Club Challenge was contested between Widnes and Canberra in 1989. Three further matches, each involving Wigan, were staged in the early 1990s.

If only we could see a genuine contest between Wigan and Brisbane – a World Club final. Alas, it will never happen. Oh sure, a game might be arranged, but logistics dictate that one side would be out of season, rusty or tired, and away from home.

“

”

The Sydney Morning Herald, September 1992^[3]

1997 tournament trophy

With the outbreak of the Australian Super League War in 1995, the World Club Challenge was not staged again until 1997. In that year the competition was restructured to include 22 clubs from the Australian and European Super League competitions. As it was contested over 6 rounds in 2 hemispheres, with $1,000,000 prize money, the competition was prohibitively expensive to stage, and it reportedly lost over $5,000,000. This, coupled with the poor ratings and attendances that were achieved both in Australia and Europe, led to the competition being postponed for two seasons.

Returning to a one-off match between both League champions for a 1998 World Club Challenge as a show-piece fixture at Ellis Park in Johannesburg was mooted.^[4] However this didn't eventuate.

When it was resurrected in 2000, the World Club Challenge was once more played between the winners of the premierships in Australasia and Europe. It has since been contested annually in various venues in the United Kingdom in February or late January, before the commencement of the Super League and National Rugby League seasons.

Australian commentators sometimes deride the competition, citing the British refusal to ever play the game outside of the UK, the effects of jet lag on the Australian teams (who often arrive in England only a couple of days before the game) and the wintry conditions as reasons for Australian teams' poor performances. Also the fact that it is played at the start of the new season instead of at the end of the previous season also affects teams performances as usually the rosters have considerably changed so the teams that take the field are not the ones that won the respective premierships.

For these reasons and until it is played either in a neutral venue or in Australia every other year, it has been viewed as nothing more than a pre-season warm up game by most Australasian teams and fans.^[5][6]

Results

Year	Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Crowd
1976	29 June	Eastern Suburbs	25–2	St Helens	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	26,865
1987	7 October	Wigan	8–2	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Central Park, Wigan	36,895
1989	4 October	Widnes	30–18	Canberra Raiders	Old Trafford, Manchester	30,786
1991	2 October	Wigan	21–4	Penrith Panthers	Anfield, Liverpool	20,152
1992	31 October	Brisbane Broncos	22–8	Wigan	Central Park, Wigan	17,460
1994	1 June	Wigan	20–14	Brisbane Broncos	ANZ Stadium, Brisbane	54,220
1997a[›]	17 October	Brisbane Broncos	36–12	Hunter Mariners	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	12,000
2000	22 January	Melbourne Storm	44–6	St Helens	JJB Stadium, Wigan	13,394
2001	26 January	St Helens	20–18	Brisbane Broncos	Reebok Stadium, Bolton	16,041
2002	25 January	Bradford Bulls	41–26	Newcastle Knights	Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield	21,113
2003	14 February	Sydney Roosters	38–0	St Helens	Reebok Stadium, Bolton	19,807
2004	13 February	Bradford Bulls	22–4	Penrith Panthers	Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield	18,962
2005	4 February	Leeds Rhinos	39–32	Bulldogs	Elland Road, Leeds	37,028
2006	3 February	Bradford Bulls	30–10	Wests Tigers	Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield	19,207
2007	23 February	St Helens	18–14	Brisbane Broncos	Reebok Stadium, Bolton	23,247
2008	29 February	Leeds Rhinos	11–4	Melbourne Storm	Elland Road, Leeds	33,204
2009	1 March	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	28–20	Leeds Rhinos	Elland Road, Leeds	32,569
2010b[›]	28 February	Melbourne Storm	18–10	Leeds Rhinos	Elland Road, Leeds	27,697
2011	27 February	St George Illawarra Dragons	21–15	Wigan Warriors	DW Stadium, Wigan	24,268
2012	February	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	TBC	Leeds Rhinos	TBC, Leeds

Notes

^ a: This is the result from the grand final of a 22-team 1997 World Club Championship.
^ b: The NRL stripped Melbourne Storm as a result of their breach of the salary cap.
NRL.com (2011-05-11). "Final Report: Storm Salary Cap investigation". NRL. http://www.nrl.com/final-report-storm-salary-cap-investigation/tabid/10874/newsid/62723/default.aspx. Retrieved 2011-10-21. </ref>

Statistics and records

Except where noted, these statistics do not include pool matches from the 1997 World Club Championship.

Titles won

Wins	Country
11	UK
7	Australia

Overall record (club)

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Win %
Wigan Warriors	3 (1987, 1991, 1994)	2 (1992, 2011)	60%
Leeds Rhinos	3 (2005, 2008, 2010)	1 (2009)	75%
Bradford Bulls	3 (2002, 2004, 2006)	–	100%
Brisbane Broncos	2 (1992, 1997)	3 (1994, 2001, 2007)	40%
St Helens	2 (2001, 2007)	3 (1976, 2000, 2003)	40%
Sydney Roosters	2 (1976, 2003)	–	100%
Melbourne Storm	1 (2000)	2 (2008, 2010)	67%
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	1 (2009)	1 (1987)	50%
Widnes Vikings	1 (1989)	–	100%
St George Illawarra Dragons	1 (2011)	-	100%
Penrith Panthers	–	2 (1991, 2004)	0%
Bulldogs RLFC	–	1 (2005)	0%
Canberra Raiders	–	1 (1989)	0%
Hunter Mariners	–	1 (1997)	0%
Newcastle Knights	–	1 (2002)	0%
Wests Tigers	–	1 (2006)	0%

Biggest wins

Points	Score	Champions	Runners-up	Year
38	38–0	Sydney Roosters	St. Helens	2003
38	44–6	Melbourne Storm	St. Helens	2000
24	36–12	Brisbane Broncos	Hunter Mariners	1997

Biggest wins

Points	Score	Champions	Runners-up	Year
38	38–0	Sydney Roosters	St. Helens	2003
38	44–6	Melbourne Storm	St. Helens	2000
24	36–12	Brisbane Broncos	Hunter Mariners	1997

Most points in a game by a winning side

Points	Score	Champions	Runners-Up	Year
44	44–6	Melbourne Storm	St. Helens	2000
41	41–26	Bradford Bulls	Newcastle Knights	2002
39	39–32	Leeds Rhinos	Canterbury Bulldogs	2005

Most points in a game by a losing side

Points	Score	Champions	Runners-Up	Year
32	39–32	Leeds Rhinos	Canterbury Bulldogs	2005
26	41–26	Bradford Bulls	Newcastle Knights	2002
20	28–20	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Leeds Rhinos	2009
18	20–18	St. Helens	Brisbane Broncos	2001
18	30–18	Widnes Vikings	Canberra Raiders	1989

Highest scoring matches

Points	Score	Champions	Runners-Up	Year
71	39–32	Leeds Rhinos	Canterbury Bulldogs	2005
67	41–26	Bradford Bulls	Newcastle Knights	2002
50	44–6	Melbourne Storm	St. Helens	2000

Lowest scoring matches

Points	Score	Champions	Runners-Up	Year
10	8–2	Wigan Warriors	Manly Sea Eagles	1987
15	11–4	Leeds Rhinos	Melbourne Storm	2008
25	21–4	Wigan Warriors	Penrith Panthers	1991

Most points scored (individual)

Points	Name (club/s)
24	Botica (Wigan / Widnes)
22	Fitzgibbon (Roosters)
18	Deacon (Bradford)
16	El Masri (Canterbury)
14	Johns (Newcastle)
14	Sinfield (Leeds)

Try scorers

Tries	Name (club/s)
3	Bai (Melbourne / Bradford), Hancock (Brisbane), Smith (Brisbane)
2	El Masri (Bulldogs), Fielden (Bradford), Gene (Bradford), Johns (Newcastle), Offiah (Widnes), R Paul (Bradford), Ross (Melbourne), Sailor (Brisbane), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Vainikolo (Bradford), Withers (Bradford), Zisti (Hunter), Gardner (St Helens), B Stewart (Manly-Warringah), Watmough (Manly), McGuire (Leeds), Jones-Buchanan (Leeds), Carmont (Wigan), B Morris (St George Illawarra)
1	Ayliffe (St Helens), Betts (Wigan), Buderus (Newcastle), Byrne (Roosters), Calderwood (Leeds), Carlaw (Hunter), Davies (Widnes), Edwards (Wigan), Evans (Melbourne), Fairfax (Roosters), Fittler (Roosters), Fitzgibbon (Roosters), Fitzhenry (Wests Tigers), Gartner (Bradford), Hill (Melbourne), Hodgson (Wests Tigers), Hoppe (St Helens), Joynt (St Helens), Kerrod Walters (Brisbane), Kevin Walters (Brisbane), Lolesi (Bulldogs), Long (St Helens), Mather (Wigan), Mathers (Leeds), Meninga (Canberra), Morgan (Melbourne), Morley (Roosters), Moule (Melbourne), Myers (Widnes), O'Neill (Brisbane), O'Sullivan (Canberra), P. Hulme (Widnes), Panapa (Widnes), Parker (Bradford), Patten (Bulldogs), Payten (Roosters), Plath (Brisbane), Poching (Leeds), Priddis (Penrith), Pryce (Bradford), R Eyers (Widnes), Renouf (Brisbane), Robinson (Wigan), S. Walters (Canberra), Smith (Newcastle), Stevens (Roosters), Swann (Bradford), Townsend (Roosters), C. Walker (Brisbane), Walker (Leeds), Willis (Penrith), Wright (Widnes), Parker (Brisbane), Boyd (Brisbane), Shaun Berrigan (Brisbane), Lee (Brisbane), Meyers (Brisbane), Hoffman (Melbourne), Donald (Leeds), Matai (Manly), Senior (Leeds), Hall (Leeds)Anthony Quinn (Melbourne)Luke MacDougall (Melbourne), Cooper (St George Illawarra), King (St George Illawarra)

Goals (conversions and penalties)

Goals	Name (club/s)
12	Frano Botica (Widnes / Wigan)Darren Lockyer (broncos)
11	Paul Deacon (Bradford / Wigan)
9	Craig Fitzgibbon (Roosters)
7	Kevin Sinfield (Leeds)
5	Harris (Bradford), Sinfield (Leeds), Watts (Melbourne)' Smith (Melbourne)
4	Hazem El Masri (Canterbury), Long (St Helens), Stephenson (Wigan), Orford (Manly)
3	Johns (Newcastle), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Withers (Bradford), Davies (Wigan), Corey Parker (Brisbane), Michael De Vere (Brisbane), Terry Matterson (Brisbane)
2	Wood (Canberra), Soward (St George Illawarra)
1	Brett Hodgson (Wests Tigers), Julian O'Neill (Brisbane), O'Sullivan (Canberra), Brass (Roosters), Tasesa Lavea (Melbourne), O'Connor (Manly), Geoff Pimblett (Wigan)

Drop goals

Goals	Name (club/s)
2	Sinfield (Leeds)
1	Lydon (Wigan), Long (St Helens), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Deacon (Bradford), Tomkins (Wigan), Soward (St George Illawarra)

Grounds

Venue	City	Number of Games	Highest Crowd	Lowest Crowd
Anfield	Liverpool	1	20,152	20,152
ANZ Stadium	Brisbane	1	54,220	54,220
Central Park	Wigan	2	36,895	17,460
Elland Road	Leeds	4	37,208	27,697
Alfred McAlpine Stadium / Galpharm Stadium	Huddersfield	3	21,113	18,962
JJB Stadium / DW Stadium	Wigan	2	24,268	13,394
Ericsson Stadium	Auckland	1	12,000	12,000
Old Trafford	Manchester	1	30,786	30,786
Reebok Stadium	Bolton	3	23,207	16,041
Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney	1	26,865	26,865

Sources

• Gallaway, Jack (2001). The Brisbane Broncos: The Team To Beat. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3342-0. 
• Rugby Super League website
• telegraph.co.uk website

External links

• RLIF.ORG – Rugby League International Federation
• World Club Challenge Preview
• World Club Challenge Review
• World Club Challenge at 188-rugby-league.co.uk

See also

• Super League
• National Rugby League

References

1. ^ Sky Sports (2009-03-02). "RFL cool on bigger Challenge". BSkyB. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12211_4995130,00.html. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
2. ^ Wilson, Andy (3 October 2010). "Wigan prepare to slay Dragons after crushing St Helens in Grand Final". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/oct/03/wigan-st-helens-super-league-grand-final. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
3. ^ Townsend, David (27 September 1992). "Just a Touch of the Old Dart". The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia: Fairfax Media): p. 47. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?docID=news920927_0114_7163. Retrieved 13 February 2011. 
4. ^ Hadfield, Dave (1998-09-23). "League proposes show in S Africa". The Independent (UK: independent.co.uk). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby-league-league-proposes-show-in-s-africa-1200080.html. Retrieved 2010-04-24. 
5. ^ Phil Gould (2006-02-05). "Humbling highlights Tigers' reliance on Benji". SMH. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/humbling-highlights-tigers-relience-on-benji/2006/02/04/1138958942946.html. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
6. ^ Langdon, Mark (2005-02-04). "Deadly Danny can get St Helens off to a flyer". The Racing Post (London, England: MGN LTD). http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-128086234.html. Retrieved 2009-10-05.