1997 World Club Championship - what really happened?

[morley pie eater]

Some interesting insights for those of us who remember the Super League war and the WCC in 1997.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/no-he ... gby-league

[Wigan Watcher]

Why would the guardian put this in their paper something that happened many many years ago,if it was not to put down the more superior rugby sport out of the two.

Pathetic really!

Let them now print how Bath went on against Wigan all those years ago, that in itself was a poorly thought out concept. Men against boys with laughable commentary coming from the Union
commentators.

PRINT THAT GUARDIAN!

[widdenoldboy]

Where the hell did this garbage come from, maybe confirms that the Guardian really is 25 years behind the times.

Oh, and why pick the only action pic to be Offiah getting clotheslined - just what IS this all about.

Classist, why shouldn't small town teams be part of an international comp. if this was RU the guy would be creaming....

[Mike]

Not sure why the last two posts are so defensive. It was a mismatch, but I was proud that we did the best out of all the Euro sides.

[Lazy J]

The article shows the thinking and the optimism (albeit misguided) at the time, the event was a bit of a car crash for some teams, but the games against the club sides showed how far we had to go, and in typical RL fashion we decided to give up after that and not bother.

I genuinely think the original top 3 idea would have and still could work. But the idea that all British teams can compete with an NRL team is farcical.

But we need to grow the fanbase, and there seems to be little interest from the aussies in the international game (which should be the pinnacle of sport) so how do we expand it? the game is receding in the UK look at the level of sponsors, Gillette used to sponsor GB and used scully on tv (much to the approval of my beloved) these days that would count against the salary cap. we now have Dacia, mushy peas and a bookie as our main sponsors, not exactly blue chip, we are regressing to the M62 corridor, talk of expansion to leigh and Featherstone.

yes the article is quite downbeat but it says more about the management of the sport at the time and the missed opportunities to develop it than it does about the matches.

just imagine a million dollar series (aus), the top 3 Uk and aussie teams playing each other in a champions league style format, yes it would've take time to develop, but it needed a sponsor and support from the league. look at the pressure on teams to get in the top 4 in football, that has taken years to develop, but now it works. it could've been the same in RL, but no, we had to make sure Sheffield and Oldham had a go too.

[widdenoldboy]

Not sure why the last two posts are so defensive. It was a mismatch, but I was proud that we did the best out of all the Euro sides.

Defensive, because the article is attacking the sport and why now? Perhaps the traction from C4 and CC final is the reason.

It was a punt and far too ambitious but worth the punt. Wigan did OK and the magic night when London beat Canberra were the highlights.

[josie andrews]

just imagine a million dollar series (aus), the top 3 Uk and aussie teams playing each other in a champions league style format, yes it would've take time to develop, but it needed a sponsor and support from the league. look at the pressure on teams to get in the top 4 in football, that has taken years to develop, but now it works. it could've been the same in RL, but no, we had to make sure Sheffield and Oldham had a go too.

They’ve already tried this!

The 2016 World Club Series saw three Super League teams and three National Rugby League (NRL) teams participate. The series included the World Club Challenge, a one-off match between the champions of the Super League and NRL.

Qualification for the Super League teams was changed to include the Challenge Cup winners, as well as the League Leaders and Grand Final winner. As the Leeds Rhinos claimed all three possible qualification positions the Super League Board decided to invite Super League semi-finalist St Helens to take part in the series.

The three National Rugby League teams were announced as the champion North Queensland Cowboys, the Brisbane Broncos, who were defeated in the grand final, and the minor premier Sydney Roosters.

Game 1: Fourth Vs Minor Premiers

The match celebrated the 40th anniversary of the inaugural World Club Challenge, which involved both teams.

St Helens 12 v Sydney Roosters 38

Game 2: Grand Final runners-up

Wigan Warriors 12 v Brisbane Broncos 42

World Club Challenge

Leeds Rhinos 4 v North Queensland Cowboys 38

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_World_Club_Series

[moto748]

Not sure why the last two posts are so defensive.

Really? Try this. The Guardian's coverage of league in this country has got thinner and thinner for some time now. They don't even bother with match reports any more, and their best writer on league (Andy Wilson) has gone. At the same time, the Guardian is keen to expand into the digital markets in both Australia and the US. This is why they actually cover the NRL in greater detail than they do SL; it's aimed at Aussie readers.

Now if they wrote regularly about English league, then this article, concentrating on some ****-up 25 years ago, would be fair enough. But on the rare occasion that they offer a feature on league, it's re-hashing something from the distant past? Make no mistake, that article is aimed more at Aussie readers, who can have a good laugh, reminding themselves about the useless Poms. It stinks.

[widdenoldboy]

Not sure why the last two posts are so defensive.

Really? Try this. The Guardian's coverage of league in this country has got thinner and thinner for some time now. They don't even bother with match reports any more, and their best writer on league (Andy Wilson) has gone. At the same time, the Guardian is keen to expand into the digital markets in both Australia and the US. This is why they actually cover the NRL in greater detail than they do SL; it's aimed at Aussie readers.

Now if they wrote regularly about English league, then this article, concentrating on some ****-up 25 years ago, would be fair enough. But on the rare occasion that they offer a feature on league, it's re-hashing something from the distant past? Make no mistake, that article is aimed more at Aussie readers, who can have a good laugh, reminding themselves about the useless Poms. It stinks.

+1

[Mike]

The world's against us.