World Club Challenge

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The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition held between the winners of the Australian NRL competition and the Super League (Europe) competition.

Contents 1 History 2 Statistics and records 2.1 Results 2.2 Wins by country 2.3 Wins by club 3 Sources 4 See also

[edit] History

The competition began unofficially in 1976 as a match between the Australian and English champions, followed by another unofficial match in 1987. The first official World Club Challenge was held in 1989.

In 1997 an expanded competition was contested by the 22 clubs playing for the Super League (Australia) and Super League (Europe) competitions. This resulted in the only all-Australian World Club Challenge final, which was played in Auckland. 12 ARL clubs were not invited to participate therefore the Winners were unable to consider themselves to be World Club Champions. Newcastle Knights won the ARL competition.

In 2000 the competition was resurrected, and it has been played annually in various venues in the United Kingdom before the commencement of Super League and NRL seasons. Australian commentators often deride the competition, citing the British home ground advantage and wintery conditions as reasons for Australian teams' poor performance.[1] The 2007 event will be contested by 2006 NRL champions the Brisbane Broncos and the winner of the 2006 European Super League competition, St Helens RFC. It will be held in February at a venue to be decided though the media expects to be Goodison Park[2]. The venue for 2007 has unexpectedly been decided to be Reebok Stadium in Bolton, the same place of those two clubs meeting in 2001[3].

[edit] Statistics and records

[edit] Results

Date	Result	Stadium	City	Crowd
29 June 1976	Eastern Suburbs d. St Helens RFC 25 - 2	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney	26,865
7 October 1987	Wigan d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 8 - 2	Central Park	Wigan	36,895
10 October 1989	Widnes d. Canberra Raiders 30-18	Old Trafford	Manchester	30,786
2 October 1991	Wigan d. Penrith Panthers 21 - 4	Anfield	Liverpool	20,152
31 October 1992	Brisbane Broncos d. Wigan 22 - 8	Central Park	Wigan	17,460
1 June 1994	Wigan d. Brisbane Broncos 20 - 14	ANZ Stadium	Brisbane	54,220
17 October 19971	Brisbane Broncos d. Hunter Mariners 36 - 12	Mt Smart Stadium	Auckland	12,000
22 January 2000	Melbourne Storm d. St Helens RFC 44 - 6	JJB Stadium	Wigan	13,394
26 January 2001	St Helens RFC d. Brisbane Broncos 20 - 18	Reebok Stadium	Bolton	16,041
25 January 2002	Bradford Bulls d. Newcastle Knights 41 - 26	McAlpine Stadium	Huddersfield	21,113
14 February 2003	Sydney Roosters d. St Helens RFC 38 - 0	Reebok Stadium	Bolton	19,807
13 February 2004	Bradford Bulls d. Penrith Panthers 22 - 4	McAlpine Stadium	Huddersfield	18,962
4 February 2005	Leeds Rhinos d. Canterbury Bulldogs 39 - 32	Elland Road	Leeds	37,208
4 February 2006	Bradford Bulls d. Wests Tigers 30 - 10	Galpharm Stadium	Huddersfield	19,207
23 February 2007	St. Helens RFC v. Brisbane Broncos	Reebok Stadium	Bolton

1. In 1997 an expanded tournament was played with the 22 teams from both Super League competitions. An all-Australian final ensued.

[edit] Wins by country

Country	Wins
United Kingdom	9
Australia	5

[edit] Wins by club

Club	Wins
Wigan Warriors	3
Bradford Bulls	3
Eastern Suburbs/Sydney Roosters	2
Brisbane Broncos	2
Widnes Vikings	1
Melbourne Storm	1
St Helens	1
Leeds Rhinos	1

[edit] Sources

• Gould, Phil "Humbling highlights Tigers' relience on Benji" The Sun Herald, 5 February, 2006. Retrieved 5 February, 2006.
• Rugby Super League website
• telegraph.co.uk website

[edit] See also

• Super League (Europe)
• National Rugby League