world club challenge

The World Club Challenge is a Rugby League competition held annually between the winners of the Australian NRL competition and the Super League (Europe) competition. Theoretically the venue should rotate between England and Australia but Australia has generally either been unwilling or unable to host the challenge and so is usually held in England shortly before the start of the new season. The challenge is a normally single game but in 1997 an expanded tournament was played with four Australian teams and four English teams. The challenge was set up to find the world champion rugby league club. However, many people in Australia argue that the challenge fails to do this as the conditions too often favour the British team. In response, after winning the 2005 match, Leeds Rhinos coach Tony Smith and chief executive Gary Hetherington indicated that, should they be involved in the 2006 match, they would want it to be held in Australia.

Results

1987	Wigan	8 - 2	Manly	Central Park, Wigan
1989	Widnes	30 - 18	Canberra Raiders	Old Trafford, Manchester
1991	Wigan	21 - 4	Penrith Panthers	Anfield, Liverpool
1994	Brisbane Broncos	14 - 20	Wigan	ANZ Stadium, Brisbane
1997	Brisbane Broncos	36 - 12	Hunter Mariners	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland
2000	St Helens RFC	6 - 44	Melbourne Storm	JJB Stadium, Wigan
2001	St Helens RFC	20 - 18	Brisbane Broncos	Reebok Stadium, Bolton
2002	Bradford Bulls	41 - 26	Newcastle Knights	McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield
2003	St Helens RFC	0 - 38	Sydney Roosters	Reebok Stadium, Bolton
2004	Bradford Bulls	22 - 4	Penrith Panthers	McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield
2005	Leeds Rhinos	39 - 32	Canterbury Bulldogs	Elland Road, Leeds

World Club Challenge

Results

See also