The chance to become the greatest club side in world rugby league is up for grab this weekend when the World Club Challenge takes place at DW Stadium.
Here, Mirror Sport takes a look at all the key facts and talking points ahead of the battle between Super League champions Wigan Warriors and reigning NRL premiers Penrith Panthers. With some of the biggest names in the sport set to collide it should be a fascinating contest. Will Wigan's breathtaking Aussie stars Bevan French and Jai Field inspire a famous win over their fellow countrymen?
Or will it be NRL kings Penrith, with ice-cool Nathan Cleary pulling the strings, who complete a smash and grab raid on their whistle-stop trip to the UK, lifting the World Club Challenge for the first time and further adding to the belief they could be one of the finest club sides of all time. All 23,500 tickets were snapped up by last month meaning there will be capacity crowd to watch it all unfold.
Date: Saturday February 24
Kick-off: 8pm
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Venue: DW Stadium
Coverage: Live on BBC Two, Sky Sports Arena and SuperLeague+ from 7.30pm
5 Sports Extra from 7.45pm with Dave Woods and Paul Rowley.
What is it?: The World Club Challenge is an annual showdown between the champions of the Super League competition (English clubs plus Catalans) and champions of the NRL (Australian clubs plus New Zealand Warriors.
Who’s playing this year?: Matt Peet’s Wigan Warriors, who defeated Catalans in last year’s Super League Grand Final, will take on Ivan Cleary’s star-studded NRL champions Penrith Panthers at a sold-out DW Stadium.
(from left) Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell and head coach Matt Peet alongside Penrith Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary and co-captain Isaah Yeo during a press conference ahead of the World Club Challenge match. (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)Key battle : Harry Smith (Wigan) v Nathan Cleary (Penrith)
Wigan’s young scrum-half Smith made his England debut last year and figured heavily in their 3-0 series whitewash of Tonga.
But this will be the 22 year-old’s biggest test yet going up against arguably the greatest player on the planet at the moment.
Kangaroos No7 Cleary is a superstar whose brilliance almost single-handedly dragged Penrith back from the jaws of defeat to glory in last year’s NRL Grand Final.
He’s co-captained them to three successive titles, has a peerless kicking game, knows how to take control of the biggest occasions and is calmness personified under pressure.
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Won the 2021 World Cup with Australia and New South Wales’ State of Origin’s talisman, Cleary is desperate to get the one trophy missing from his cabinet after seeing another young English scrum-half - St Helens’ Lewis Dodd - steal Penrith’s thunder in last year’s dramatic World Club Challenge down under.
Smith is fortunate to even be playing after avoiding a ban when being sin-binned for a tip-tackle in Saturday’s Super League opener at Castleford.
Will now be out to make the most of his shot against the NRL’s golden boy and reigning GQ Australia Sportsperson of the Year.
Nathan Cleary of the Panthers celebrates after scoring the match winning try during the 2023 NRL Grand Final match between Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos (Getty Images)World Club Challenge stats
Wigan are making a record ninth appearance in a World Club Challenge and victory would be a record-equalling fifth success drawing level with Sydney Roosters.
Wigan captain Liam Farrell is their only player on show to win the competition previously having featured in the 2017 success over Cronulla.
Penrith have never lifted the World Club Challenge, losing all three games - to Wigan in 1991, against Bradford in 2004 and at home to St Helens in 2023.
The first World Club Championship/Challenge match was on Tuesday, 29 June 1976 when Eastern Suburbs (now Sydney Roosters) defeated St Helens 25-2 at the Sydney Cricket Ground before a crowd of 26,856.
Since the World Club Challenge became firmly established in the calendar with Wigan’s epic 8-2 win over Manly in 1987 (the 1976 showdown was a one-off), British clubs have won 14 of the 27 clashes.
Leeds Rhinos ‘Golden Generation’ trio Rob Burrow, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Jamie Peacock share the record for most World Club Challenge appearances: seven
But Peacock stands alone in terms of wins: four (Bradford - v Newcastle 2002; v Penrith 2004; Leeds - v Melbourne 2008; v Manly 2012)
World Club Challenge 1987-2023
7/10/87 Wigan 8 Manly 2 (Central Park, Wigan) Attendance: 36,895
10/10/89 Widnes 30 Canberra 18 (Old Trafford, Manchester) Attendance: 30,786
2/10/91 Wigan 21 Penrith 4 (Anfield, Liverpool) Attendance: 20,152
30/10/92 Brisbane 22 Wigan 8 (Central Park, Wigan) Attendance: 17,746
1/6/94 Wigan 20 Brisbane 14 (ANZ Stadium, Brisbane) Attendance: 54,220
22/1/00 Melbourne 44 St Helens 6 (JJB Stadium, Wigan) Attendance: 13,394
26/1/01 St Helens 20 Brisbane 18 (Reebok Stadium, Bolton) Attendance: 16,041
1/2/02 Bradford 41 Newcastle 26 (McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield) Attendance: 21,113
14/2/03 Sydney Roosters 38 St Helens 0 (Reebok Stadium, Bolton) Attendance: 19,807
13/2/04 Bradford 22 Penrith 4 (McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield) Attendance: 18,962
4/2/05 Leeds 39 Bulldogs 32 (Elland Road, Leeds) Attendance: 37,028
3/2/06 Bradford 30 Wests Tigers 10 (Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield) Attendance: 19,207
23/2/07 St Helens 18 Brisbane 14 (Reebok Stadium, Bolton) Attendance: 23,207
29/2/08 Leeds 11 Melbourne 4 (Elland Road, Leeds) Attendance: 33,204
1/3/09 Manly 28 Leeds 20 (Elland Road, Leeds) Attendance: 32,569
28/2/10 Melbourne 18 Leeds 10 (Elland Road, Leeds) Attendance: 27,697 *
27/2/11 St George Illawarra 21 Wigan 15 (DW Stadium, Wigan) Attendance: 24,268
17/2/12 Leeds 26 Manly 12 (Headingley Carnegie, Leeds) Attendance: 21,062
22/2/13 Melbourne 18 Leeds 14 (Headingley Carnegie, Leeds) Attendance: 20,400
22/2/14 Sydney Roosters 36 Wigan 14 (Allianz Stadium, Sydney) Attendance: 31,515
22/2/15 South Sydney 39 St Helens 0 (Langtree Park, St Helens) Attendance: 17,980
21/2/16 North Queensland 38 Leeds 4 (Headingley Carnegie, Leeds) Attendance: 19,778
19/2/17 Wigan 22 Cronulla 6 (DW Stadium, Wigan) Attendance: 21,011
16/2/18 Melbourne 38 Leeds 4 (AAMI Park, Melbourne) Attendance: 19,062
17/2/19 Sydney Roosters 20 Wigan 8 (DW Stadium, Wigan) Attendance: 21,331
22/2/20 Sydney Roosters 20 St Helens 12 (Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens) Attendance: 16,108
18/2/23 St Helens 13 Penrith 12 (aet) (BlueBet Stadium, Penrith) Attendance: 13,873
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