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EspañolWORLD CLUB CHALLENGE
The 2007 WCC logo.
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.
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, it was once more played between the winners of the premierships in Australia and the United Kingdom. It has been since contested annually in various venues in the United Kingdom 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]
It has been reported that in February 2009 the ESL and NRL champions may play each other in the Seychelles Islands.[2]
Results
1. 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.
Statistics and records
Except where noted, these statistics do not include pool matches from the 1997 World Club Challenge.
Titles won (country of origin)
| Wins | Country |
|---|---|
| 10 |  |
| 5 |  |
Titles won (club)
| Wins | Club |
|---|---|
| 3 |   |
| 2 |  16x16px  16x16px  |
| 1 |   16x16px  |
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) |
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) |
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) |
Field goals
| Goals | Name (club/s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lydon (Wigan), Long (St Helens), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Deacon (Bradford), Sinfield (Leeds) |
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 | 1 | 37,208 | 37,208 |
| 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 |
Sources
★ The Brisbane Broncos: The Team To Beat, Gallaway, Jack, , , University of Queensland Press, 2001, ISBN 0702233420
★ 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
External links
★ World Club Challenge Preview
★ World Club Challenge Review
See also
★ 1997 World Club Challenge
★ Super League (Europe)
★ National Rugby League
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