World Club Challenge
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The World Club Challenge (WCC) (also referred to as the Carnegie World Club Challenge (CWCC) for sponsorship purposes) is an annual rugby league 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.
[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 contested between Widnes and Canberra in 1989. Three further matches, each involving Wigan, were staged in through the early 1990s. 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 included 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 a number of years. For results of this tournament, see 1997 World Club Challenge.
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 been since contested annually in various venues in the United Kingdom in February or late January, before the commencement of Super League and National Rugby League seasons. Australian commentators sometimes deride the competition, citing the British home ground advantage and wintry conditions as reasons for Australian teams' poor performances.[1].
[edit] Results
[edit] Statistics and records
Except where noted, these statistics do not include pool matches from the 1997 World Club Challenge.
[edit] Titles won (country of origin)
| Wins | Country |
|---|---|
| 11 |  England |
| 5 |  Australia |
[edit] Overall record (club)
| Club | Won | Lost | Years Won | Years Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wigan Warriors |
3 | 1 | 1987, 1991, 1994 | 1992 |
 Bradford Bulls |
3 | 0 | 2002, 2004, 2006 | |
 Brisbane Broncos |
2 | 3 | 1992, 1997 | 1994, 2001, 2007 |
 St Helens |
2 | 3 | 2001, 2007 | 1976, 2000, 2003 |
 Eastern Suburbs/Sydney Roosters |
2 | 0 | 1976, 2003 | |
 Leeds Rhinos |
2 | 0 | 2005, 2008 | |
 Melbourne Storm |
1 | 1 | 2000 | 2008 |
 Widnes Vikings |
1 | 0 | 1989 | |
 Penrith Panthers |
0 | 2 | 1991, 2004 | |
 Canberra Raiders |
0 | 1 | 1989 | |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
0 | 1 | 2005 | |
 Hunter Mariners |
0 | 1 | 1997 | |
 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
0 | 1 | 1987 | |
 Newcastle Knights |
0 | 1 | 2002 | |
 Wests Tigers |
0 | 1 | 2006 |
[edit] Biggest Wins
| Points | Score | Winning Team | Losing Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 44-6 | Melbourne Storm | St. Helens | 2000 |
| 38 | 38-0 | Sydney Roosters | St. Helens | 2003 |
| 24 | 36-12 | Brisbane Broncos | Hunter Mariners | 1997 |
[edit] Most Points In A Game
| Points | Score | Winning Team | Losing Team | 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 |
[edit] Most Points In A Game By A Losing Side
| Points | Score | Winning Team | Losing Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 39-32 | Leeds Rhinos | Canterbury Bulldogs | 2005 |
| 26 | 41-26 | Bradford Bulls | Newcastle Knights | 2002 |
| 18 | 30-18 | Widnes Vikings | Canberra Raiders | 1989 |
| 18 | 20-18 | St. Helens | Brisbane Broncos | 2001 |
[edit] Highest Scoring Matches
| Points | Score | Winning Team | Losing Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | 39-32 | Leeds Rhinos | Canterbury Bulldogs | 2005 |
| 67 | 41-26 | Bradford Bulls (England) | Newcastle Knights | 2002 |
| 50 | 44-6 | Melbourne Storm (Australia) | St. Helens | 2000 |
[edit] Lowest Scoring Matches
| Points | Score | Winning Team | Losing Team | 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 |
[edit] 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) |
[edit] Try scorers
| Tries | Name (club/s) |
|---|---|
| 3 | Bai (Melbourne / Bradford), Hancock (Brisbane), Smith (Brisbane) |
| 2 | El Masri (Canterbury), Fieldon (Bradford), Gene (Bradford), Johns (Newcastle), Offiah (Widnes), Paul (Bradford), Ross (Melbourne), Sailor (Brisbane), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Vainakolo (Bradford), Withers (Bradford), Zisti (Hunter), Gardner (St Helens) |
| 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), Jones-Buchanan (Leeds), Joynt (St Helens), Kerrod Walters (Brisbane), Kevin Walters (Brisbane), Lolesi (Canterbury), Long (St Helens), Mather (Wigans), Mathers (Leeds), McGuire (Leeds), Meninga (Canberra), Morgan (Melbourne), Moreley (Roosters), Moule (Melbourne), Myers (Widnes), O'Neill (Brisbane), O'Sullivan (Canberra), P. Hulme (Widnes), Panapa (Widnes), Parker (Bradford), Patten (Canterbury), 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) |
[edit] Goals (conversions and penalties)
| Goals | Name (club/s) |
|---|---|
| 12 | Botica (Widnes / Wigan) |
| 9 | Fitzgibbon (Roosters) |
| 8 | Deacon (Bradford) |
| 5 | Harris (Bradford), Sinfield (Leeds), Watts (Melbourne) |
| 4 | El Masri (Canterbury), Long (St Helens), Stephenson (Wigan) |
| 3 | Johns (Newcastle), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Withers (Bradford), Davies (Wigan), Parker (Brisbane), De Vere (Brisbane), Matterson (Brisbane) |
| 2 | Wood (Canberra) |
| 1 | Hodgeson (Wests Tigers), O'Neill (Brisbane), O'Sullivan (Canberra), Brass (Roosters), Lavea (Melbourne), O'Conner (Manly), Pimblett (Wigan) |
[edit] Field goals
| Goals | Name (club/s) |
|---|---|
| 2 | Sinfield (Leeds) |
| 1 | Lydon (Wigan), Long (St Helens), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Deacon (Bradford) |
[edit] 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 | 2 | 37,208 | 33,204 |
| Galpharm Stadium | Huddersfield | 3 | 21,113 | 18,962 |
| JJB Stadium | Wigan | 1 | 13,394 | 13,394 |
| Ericcson 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 |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ This is the result from the grand final of a 22 team 1997 World Club Challenge. For the results of the other matches in that tournament please see 1997 World Club Challenge.
[edit] Sources
- Gallaway, Jack (2001). The Brisbane Broncos: The Team To Beat. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3342-0.
- 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] External links
[edit] See also
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