Current season or competition: 2026 World Club Challenge | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1976; 49 years ago (1976) |
| Inaugural season | 1976 |
| Number of teams | 2 |
| Nations |  Australia England France New Zealand Wales |
| World Champions | Wigan Warriors (2024) |
| Most titles | Sydney RoostersWigan Warriors(5 titles) |
| Broadcast partner | Nine Network Sky Sport Sky Sports BBC Sport NITV |
| Related competition | National Rugby League Super League World Club Series |
TheWorld Club Challenge is an annualrugby league competition between the winners of the AustralianNational Rugby League and the BritishSuper League, for thede facto clubworld championship of the sport.
Super League sides have won the competition 15 times withNational Rugby League sides having 14 wins.
The first such match was played in1976, although this was not an official competitive game. The first official World Club Challenge sawWidnes Vikings beat Canberra Raiders 30–18 at Old Trafford on 4 October 1989, after which it became a semi-regular fixture, though was paused in the 1990s due to theSuper League war. The competition has been held almost every year since 2000.
Sydney Roosters andWigan Warriors have both won the competition 5 times, the joint highest in all formats since the competition began.
Wigan Warriors are the most recent champions after winning the2024 event, defeating thePenrith Panthers 16–12 in 2024 at theDW Stadium in front of a sell out crowd of 24,091. No match was held in 2025. TheBrisbane Broncos andHull Kingston Rovers are scheduled to contest thenext edition on 19 February, 2026, atMKM Stadium.
The competition began unofficially in 1976 as a match between Sydney'sEastern Suburbs andPremiership winnersSt. Helens. This inaugural clash was proposed as merely a 'one-off' game, and was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on June 29, in the midst of the1976 NSWRFL season.[1]
While some considered it an unnecessary disruption to both teams' campaigns in their respective domestic competitions, a healthy crowd of 26,856 turned out for the match, indicating that it was indeed a viable initiative. Leading into the match, St. Helens opted to play two warm-up games against a Queensland and Auckland representative team respectively, and lost both. In order to prove their triumph was legitimate, and not a result of fatigue on behalf of St. Helens, Eastern Suburbs challenged both representative sides who had defeated St. Helens. While Queensland declined the offer, Auckland eagerly accepted, and were ultimately defeated by the tricolours 26–22 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.[1] Because the 1976 clash was a standalone game, there were no immediate plans for a follow-up match the next season, or indeed any in the foreseeable future.
The concept would not return until 1987, when another unofficial match took place.Wigan chairmanMaurice Lindsay invitedManly-Warringah toCentral Park.[2] Long-serving Manly secretary Ken Arthurson proposed that the prize money should be split between the two clubs, regardless of the outcome, however, Lindsay argued that the game should be played under a 'winner-takes-all' stipulation, believing that it would result in the players and fans taking the game more seriously. Played on a dry October night, the match between Manly and Wigan was a tough, at times spiteful, encounter which attracted 36,895 spectators to Wigan's Central Park, most of whom spilled onto the ground at fulltime in celebration of the home side's 8–2 victory.[1] Manly forward Ron Gibbs became the first player to be sent off in a World Club Challenge game during the match, as he was given his marching orders following an illegal elbow to Wigan centre Joe Lydon as he attempted a drop-goal.
Sea Eagles captain Paul Vautin would later claim that his side's loss came down to the team's lackadaisical attitude toward the game, saying that Manly treated the fixture as an opportunity to travel to England for a holiday, where they would continue their grand final celebrations.[1]
The first officially recognised World Club Challenge was betweenWidnes andCanberra in 1989. Three more World Club Challenge games were played in the 1990s – 1991, 1992 and 1994 – with Wigan appearing in all three (winning the first atAnfield,Liverpool, losing to the Brisbane Broncos at home in the second before memorably defeating the same opponent in their own city in the third).
If only we could see a genuine contest betweenWigan andBrisbane – a World Club final. Alas, it will never happen. Oh sure, a game might be arranged, but logistics dictate that one side would be out of season, rusty or tired, and away from home.
After the 1994 match logistical issues meant the concept was put on hiatus until it was revived in 1997.
With the outbreak of Australia'sSuper League War in 1995, the World Club Challenge was not staged again until1997 when the competition was restructured to include the twenty-two clubs from the AustralasianSuper League and the EuropeanSuper League. The twelve Australian Rugby League affiliated clubs did not take part. With six rounds in two hemispheres and $1,000,000 prize money, the competition was prohibitively expensive to stage and reportedly lost over $5,000,000. This, coupled with the poor ratings and attendances both in Australia and Europe, led to the competition being postponed for two seasons.
Returning to a one-off match between the League champions in 1998, a World Club Challenge as a show-piece fixture at Ellis Park in Johannesburg was mooted.[4] However this did not eventuate.
When it was resurrected in 2000, the World Club Challenge was once more played between the winners of the premierships in Australasia and Europe. During this period it was contested annually in the United Kingdom in late January or early February, before the commencement National Rugby League season and the Super League season. Over this period Super League teams dominated the tournament winning 7 of 9 matches, and this led one Australian commentator to deride the competition, citing the British refusal to play the game outside of the UK, the effects of jet lag on an Australian team who arrived in England only a couple of days before the game, and wintry conditions as reasons for Australian team's poor performance. In addition, the games were being played at the beginning of the new season instead of at the end of the previous season, so the rosters of both sides had normally changed considerably, therefore the teams that took the field were not the ones that won the respective premierships. For these reasons, it was viewed as merely a pre-season warm up game by most Australasian teams and fans.[5][6]
Since the 2009 tournament, its popularity has increased with stronger crowds and also with Australian teams taking the concept more seriously, Australian teams were arriving earlier to acclimatize the players and often organising warm up games with other super league sides and this created a much stronger showing and improved results. This also led to an increased movement to having the tournament staged in Australia. During this period, the matches were fixtured in late February, still before the commencement of the National Rugby League season but in the early stages of the new Super League season.[citation needed]
In mid-2012, a working party was established to look into the feasibility of conducting the match in either a neutral or Australian venue and also looking into the possibility of expanding the tournament.[7] In February 2013, the changes to the tournament were gaining momentum with the NRL and Super League agreeing to begin alternating the World Club Challenge tournament between the UK and Australia. These changes were finally confirmed in November 2013, with both parties agreeing that the 2014 World Club Challenge would be the first held in Australia since 1994.[8] In addition, commencing in 2015, the tournament would also be expanded to six teams.[9] The World Club Challenge return to Australia in 2014 was a success with a solid crowd numbers of over 31,000, with the Sydney Roosters defeating the Wigan Warriors 36–14. During the game, Sydney's Michael Jennings became the first player to score a hat trick of tries in a World Club Challenge.[citation needed]
In September 2014, it was announced that the World Club Challenge name would be changed to the World Club Series with six clubs participating – 3 from each league.[10] The first iteration took place between 20 and 22 February 2015, and featured three matches, the first and second essentially being two exhibition games and the final game being for the Championship trophy between the two respective premiers as in previous years.[11]
In 2017, the format was reduced to four teams, with the NRL citing tight schedules, distant travel and long seasons as an impediment to their participation in the Series. After the NRL negotiated with the Brisbane Broncos, it was decided that they would represent the NRL in an exhibition match vsWarrington Wolves prior to the usual Challenge game between the Super League ChampionsWigan Warriors andCronulla Sutherland Sharks, maintaining the overall Series concept. 2017 would be Super League's first victory since the series began, with Warrington winning 27–18 against Brisbane,[12] and Wigan beating Cronulla 22–6.[13]
In October 2017, it was suggested that the 2018 Series could be scrapped completely based on the top Australian teams reluctance to travel to the UK for the 2017 series which resulted in the Series being scaled back to two games only. In particular the second game of the 2017 series only featured an invited team from the NRL.[14] In addition, the2017 Rugby League World Cup being played in Australia at the end of 2017, meant that the preseasons for Australian teams was going to be unusually short ahead of the 2018 season and therefore did not want to make the trip to England for the 2018 series. TheMelbourne Storm (2017 NRL Premiers) in particular, were reluctant to travel meaning the series was in danger of cancellation for the first time since the 1990s as it is the Storm that was playing in the World Club Challenge.
In June 2017, theSuper League announced that the Australian city ofWollongong would host the first everSuper League game outside Europe.Wigan Warriors will "host"Hull F.C. in the game atWIN Stadium on Saturday, 10 February.[15] In addition and as part of this trip to Australia, Wigan and Hull would also play two exhibition games againstSouth Sydney Rabbitohs andSt George Illawarra Dragons respectively. These were separately arranged fixtures and not considered part of the World Club Series.[16][17]
On 14 November 2017, it was confirmed thatLeeds Rhinos would travel to Australia to play Melbourne Storm atAAMI Park inMelbourne on 16 February 2018, and that the World Club Challenge would return to a one-game format for the first time since 2014.[16] The Storm defeated Leeds 38–4 to become World Club Champions for 2018 and also became the first club to hold the NRL Minor Premiership, NRL Premiership and World Club Challenge at the same time since the Sydney Roosters in 2014.[18]
On 22 February 2020, theSydney Roosters became the first team to win back to back World Club Challenges, defeatingSt Helens 20–12 in the process. They also overtookWigan in most challenges won with five.[19]
On 20 November 2020 it was announced that the 2021 World Club challenge, which was due to be played betweenMelbourne Storm andSt Helens would be postponed until late in 2021 owing to the push back of seasons due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing pandemic itself preventing overseas travel.[20] However, due to the continuing issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the clash between St Helens and Melbourne was completely cancelled.[21]
In October 2021, St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus said that while he hoped the 2022 version of this fixture could go ahead against the Penrith Panthers, he acknowledged it would be “very difficult” to arrange. In November 2021 Penrith Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher said Penrith would only play if the game was played at BlueBet Stadium the Panthers home ground at the time because they didn't want to send their team to play against St Helens in England. St Helens coach Kristian Woolfe agreed on the condition that Penrith pay for the fares of the St Helens team. Penrith refused and the match was cancelled for this reason.[22] The year's competition was ultimately also cancelled.[23]
On 9 November 2022, it was announced that the World Club Challenge would make its return and be staged in Australia atBlueBet Stadium.[24] Back-to-back NRL champions Penrith Panthers would host St Helens, the Super League champions for four consecutive years.[25] The match took place on Saturday February 18, with kick-off at 7am (GMT). For the first time in the history of the competition the match went togolden point extra time after a dramatic finale meant that the match was tied 12–12 at the full time hooter. St Helens scored the winning point with aLewis Dodddrop goal, a shock win to become the first Super League side to win the Challenge in Australia since 1994.[25][26] This was also the worst attended game in 23 years, falling nearly 10,000 short of the capacity of theBlueBet Stadium, the previous low attendance also involved St Helens which was held at theDW Stadium in Wigan, with only the 1997 game having a lower attendance.[25][27]
Penrith would win a third consecutive NRL title while St Helens' monopoly ended asWigan Warriors won2023 Super League Grand Final to set up a rematch from the1991 World Club Challenge. Penrith would again fail in capturing an inaugural World Club Challenge win in2024 as they were defeated 16-12 at a selloutDW Stadium with 24,091 in attendance.[28] By Wining, Wigan set a record equalling tally of five World Club Challenge wins along withSydney Roosters.
Ahead of the2024 NRL Grand Final, reports began circulating that the2025 World Club Challenge was at risk of cancellation as teams that could potentially qualify (Penrith Panthers,Warrington Wolves, andWigan Warriors) would have difficulty arranging travel to either the UK or Australia, then to the United States, with the usual date of the tournament being close to that of the 2025Rugby League Las Vegas event.[29]
On 9th October 2024,2024 NRL Grand Final championsPenrith Panthers confirmed to theNRL that they would not play the match before the start of the domestic seasons citing player welfare as the issue stating that their players were delaying their mandated leave to play in the2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships and2024 Samoa rugby league tour of England thus not allowing players to have an adequate preseason before the World Club Challenge. The club stated that it was open to working with the NRL for a solution to play the match, but would not play the match as things currently stand stood.[30]2024 Super League Grand Final championsWigan Warriors were commitment to the fixture.[31][32] The match was never played.
After the 2025Rugby League Las Vegas event was held, talks emerged in regards to the World Club Challenge being played at Vegas the following year;[33] however, this did not come to fruition.[34][35] The following month, Rhodri Jones, CEO of Rugby League Commercial, stated bothSuper League and theNRL had committed to staging the event in 2026.[36] FollowingBrisbane Broncos's victory in the2025 NRL Grand Final, NRL CEOAndrew Abdo confirmed the staging of the 2026 event with details to be worked out following the result of the2025 Super League Grand Final.[37] FollowingHull Kingston Rovers's victory in the Super League Grand Final, talks emerged that the2026 World Club Challenge had been penciled in for 21 February with Brisbane travelling toHull FC'sMKM Stadium for the game.[38] The game was later confirmed for 19 February.[39]
18 teams have competed in the World Club Challenge with 12 teams being successful and being crowned world champions. Sydney Roosters and Wigan Warriors have currently jointly won more finals than any other team with five wins, Wigan also being the current champions (Roosters first title was prior to the club's name change from Eastern Suburbs).
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Eastern Suburbs | 25 – 2 | St Helens | Sydney Cricket Ground | 26,865 |
| 1987 | Wigan Warriors | 8 – 2 | Manly Sea Eagles | Central Park | 36,895 |
| 1989 | Widnes Vikings | 30 – 18 | Canberra Raiders | Old Trafford | 30,786 |
| 1991 | Wigan Warriors (2) | 21 – 4 | Penrith Panthers | Anfield | 20,152 |
| 1992 | Brisbane Broncos | 22 – 8 | Wigan Warriors | Central Park | 17,764 |
| 1994 | Wigan Warriors (3) | 20 – 14 | Brisbane Broncos | Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre | 54,220 |
| 1997 Final | Brisbane Broncos (2) | 36 – 12 | Hunter Mariners | Mount Smart Stadium | 10,300 |
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sydney Roosters | 5 | 0 | 1976, 2003, 2014, 2019, 2020 | N/A |
 Wigan Warriors | 5 | 4 | 1987, 1991, 1994, 2017, 2024 | 1992, 2011, 2014, 2019 |
 Leeds Rhinos | 3 | 5 | 2005, 2008, 2012 | 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018 |
 St Helens | 2001, 2007, 2023 | 1976, 2000, 2003, 2015, 2020 | ||
 Melbourne Storm | 1 | 2000, | 2008 | |
 Bradford Bulls | 0 | 2002, 2004, 2006 | N/A | |
 Brisbane Broncos | 2 | 3 | 1992, 1997 | 1994, 2001, 2007 |
 Manly Sea Eagles | 1 | 2 | 2009 | 1987, 2012 |
 Widnes Vikings | 1 | 0 | 1989 | N/A |
 St. George Illawarra Dragons | 2011 | |||
 South Sydney Rabbitohs | 2015 | |||
 North Queensland Cowboys | 2016 | |||
 Penrith Panthers | 0 | 4 | N/A | 1991, 2004, 2023, 2024 |
 Canberra Raiders | 1 | 1989 | ||
 Hunter Mariners | 1997 | |||
 Newcastle Knights | 2002 | |||
 Canterbury Bulldogs | 2005 | |||
 Wests Tigers | 2006 | |||
 Cronulla Sharks | 2017 |
| League | Winners | Years won |
|---|---|---|
| National Rugby League /NSWRL /Super League | 14 | 1976, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Super League /First Division | 15 | 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2017, 2023, 2024 |
The Treble, in Australian rugby league, involves winning the World Club Challenge, Grand Final, and Minor Premiership within the same season.[42]
NB: In British rugby league, "the treble" refers to winning theSuper League Grand Final,League Leaders Shield, andChallenge Cup, however British teams are still listed here who qualify by the Australian definition.
To date the teams that have held the three titles at once are as follows:
| City | Stadium | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan | DW Stadium | 2000, 2011, 2017, 2019, 2024 |
| 2 | Leeds | Elland Road | 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
| 3 | Bolton | Macron Stadium | 2001, 2003, 2007 |
| 3 | Huddersfield | Kirklees Stadium | 2002, 2004, 2006 |
| 3 | Leeds | Headingley Stadium | 2012, 2013, 2016 |
| 6 | Wigan | Central Park | 1987, 1992 |
| 6 | St. Helens | Langtree Park | 2015, 2020 |
| 8 | Sydney | Sydney Cricket Ground | 1976 |
| 8 | Manchester | Old Trafford | 1989 |
| 8 | Liverpool | Anfield | 1991 |
| 8 | Brisbane | QEII Stadium | 1994 |
| 8 | Auckland | Mount Smart Stadium | 1997 |
| 8 | Sydney | Sydney Football Stadium | 2014 |
| 8 | Melbourne | Melbourne Rectangular Stadium | 2018 |
| 8 | Penrith | Penrith Stadium | 2023 |
| Year | City | Stadium | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Brisbane | QEII Stadium | 54,220 |
| Year | City | Stadium | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Auckland | Mount Smart Stadium | 12,000 |
The World Club Challenge has been sponsored sporadically since its formation.
| Period | Sponsor | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1987–1991 | Foster's | Foster's World Club Challenge |
| 1992–1993 | None | World Club Challenge |
| 1994–1996 | MMI | MMI World Club Challenge |
| 1997 | VISA | VISA World Club Championship |
| 2000 | Kellogg's | Kellogg's World Club Challenge[43] |
| 2001-2004 | None | World Club Challenge |
| 2005–2009 | Carnegie | Carnegie World Club Challenge |
| 2010 | Gillette | Gillette World Club Challenge |
| 2011 | Probiz | Probiz World Club Challenge |
| 2012 | Heinz Big Soup | Heinz Big Soup World Club Challenge |
| 2013 | Probiz | Probiz World Club Challenge |
| 2014–2015, 2023 | None | World Club Challenge |
| 2016–2017 | Dacia | Dacia World Club Challenge |
| 2018 | Downer | Downer World Club Challenge |
| 2019–2020, 2024 | Betfred | Betfred World Club Challenge |
| 2023 | None | World Club Challenge |
| 2024 | Betfred | Betfred World Club Challenge |