History can help inspire Wigan Warriors to victory - but World Club Series already faces bleak future

The Warriors are delving deep into the history of the competition to find their inspiration - but the outcome of Sunday's clash with Cronulla Sharks could determine the future of the competition

Wigan will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's defeat in which they were comprehensively beaten by the Broncos (Getty)

This weekend is not merely another chance for Australia's NRL to demonstrate its superiority over Super League. It could go a long way towards determining whether the World Club Series has a long-term future.

The British Champions, Wigan, face the Cronulla Sharks, the winners of the Australian Grand Final, on Sunday for the right to call themselves the best side in the world.

Unlike last year, when there were three matches over the weekend, Australian clubs have shown little interest in it this time, with Brisbane stepping in to play the curtain-raiser against Warrington on Saturday night.

If it is as one-sided as last year – when Wigan lost 42-12 to the Broncos, for instance – it is going to be a hard sell in 2018 and thereafter.


 Wigan, the British Champions, will be looking to their past for inspiration against their Australian opponents 
 (Getty)

The Warriors, however, are delving deeper into the history of the competition to find their inspiration.

It was in 1987 when Wigan, faced with the indifference of the Rugby League, went ahead and organised the event themselves, bringing the NRL winners, Manly, over for an unforgettable night at Central Park.

An all-English line-up triumphed 8-2, in front of a crowd given on the night as over 36,000. Many believe that there were even more than that crammed into the old stadium.

Indeed, you can't find many Wiganers in the right age bracket who will admit to not being there; a real where-were-you moment.

Man of the Match that night was the current Wigan coach, Shaun Wane, and he has no qualms about trawling the past for inspiration.

“We will be talking about it now,” said Wane, after Wigan had won their first Super League match of the new season at Salford on Sunday.

“We will be bringing in some of the players who played that night to talk to them as well. It has a special place in this club's history.

“It's 30 years ago now, but if I go into town now I still get people wanting to talk to me about it.”

That it should be a relentless, grafting prop like Wane, rather than a club legend like Ellery Hanley, Shaun Edwards or Andy Gregory who should dominate the game defines the sort of contest it was. There were no tries, but no complaints about that either.


 Wigan, who overcame Warrington last October, take on Cronulla on Sunday night 
 (Getty)

But if that night is part of Wigan folklore, so is the one seven years later, when an injury ravaged side, which had just seen its coach sacked, went to Brisbane and won. No wonder that the World Club, in its various forms, holds a special place in Wigan's heart.

Sadly, none of this is likely to save it as a concept. One of the weaknesses of the WCC has been its tendency to over-reach itself. Thus in 1997 all first grade teams in the two competitions took part in a convoluted tournament which achieved little but to repeat ad nauseam the lesson that Super League clubs were not, as a whole, truly competitive.

You could level the same charge at the new format, introduced last year, involving the top three sides from the two countries. It began losing credibility before it had accrued any, with Wigan, Leeds and Warrington all soundly thrashed. That was particularly hard for Wigan, with their history, to take.


 Shaun Wane helped inspire Wigan to victory in the first World Club Challenge in 1987 
 (Getty)

The competition is now at the mercy of what individual Australian clubs want to do. At least there is unlikely to be any lack of enthusiasm from Cronulla, who last autumn won their first Premiership after 50 years of trying.

The Sharks surprised everyone last season, but they have magnificent players in the likes of Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita, Wade Graham and Luke Lewis. Since they won their Grand Final, however, their hooker, Michael Ennis, has switched to rugby union at Toulon to work off a social drugs ban.

The Sharks are no strangers to off-field dramas, but they have set themselves the serious target of becoming the first side in 25 years to retain their domestic crown.

Wigan are still without Sam Tomkins, but John Bateman, who missed the Salford game with a back muscle strain, is expected to recover.