| 2024 (2024) World Club Challenge | |||||||||||||
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 TheDW Stadium hosted the match | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 24 February 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | DW Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | Wigan, England | ||||||||||||
| Man of the Match | Bevan French | ||||||||||||
| God Save The King, Advance Australia Fair, andJerusalem | Russell Watson | ||||||||||||
| Referee | Liam Moore | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 24,091 | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
| Broadcasters | |||||||||||||
The2024 World Club Challenge was the 30th staging of theWorld Club Challenge, an annual rugby league match between the reigning champions of theSuper League and theNational Rugby League. TheWigan Warriors hosted thePenrith Panthers atDW Stadium on 24 February, 2024.[1][2]
Wigan won the match 16–12, seeing the Warriors win their fifth World Club Challenge, equaling theSydney Roosters with the most titles.
TheWigan Warriors qualified by defeating theCatalans Dragons in the2023 Super League Grand Final. They previously played in eight World Club Challenges and won four, including a 21–4 victory over Penrith in1991. The Warriors' last appearance was in a 12-point defeat to the Sydney Roosters in the2019 World Club Challenge.
ThePenrith Panthers defeated theBrisbane Broncos in the2023 NRL Grand Final - their third consecutive premiership - to qualify for their second[a] consecutive World Club Challenge and their fifth overall. They lost the2023 edition toSt Helens in golden point, which also acted as one of their fixtures in the inaugural NRL Pre-season Challenge.[3] As the 2024 edition was played in England, the Panthers did not participate in the Pre-season Challenge, which began the weekend prior.[1]
The Penrith Panthers' UK training base ahead of the match was atManchester City'sEtihad Campus.[4]
Ticketing was organising by Wigan Warriors, as they were hosting the match. Tickets went on sale on 21 December 2023 and started at £28 for adults and £16 for junior. 10,000 were sold in the first 24 hours.[5]
On 22 January, Wigan announced the match was a sellout event.[6]
Heather Small headlined the prematch entertainment with a fan village being open in Wigan throughout the day, whileRussell Watson performed the national anthems.[7]
24 February 2024 20:00GMT |
Wigan Warriors | 16–12 |  Penrith Panthers |
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| Tries:3 Miski  8'Leeming 32'Wardle 52'Goals:2 Smith 2/3  33',54' | 1st: 10–12 2nd: 6–0 Report | Tries:2 Cleary 26'Edwards 38'Goals:2 Cleary 2/2 27',39' |
DW Stadium,Wigan Attendance: 24,091 Referee: Liam Moore (England) Touch judges: Jonnie Roberts (England), Rich Thompson (England) Player of the Match: Bevan French |
| Wigan Warriors | Position | Penrith Panthers | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jai Field | Fullback | Dylan Edwards 39' | |
| 2 | Abbas Miski 9' | Wing | 2 | Sunia Turuva 66' |
| 3 | Adam Keighran | Centre | 21 | Izack Tago |
| 4 | Jake Wardle 52' | Centre | 4 | Taylan May |
| 5 | Liam Marshall | Wing | 5 | Brian To'o |
| 6 | Bevan French | Stand-off | 6 | Jack Cole |
| 7 | Harry Smith 34',54' | Scrum-half | 7 | Nathan Cleary 27', 28',40' |
| 14 | Mike Cooper 18', 67' | Prop | 8 | Moses Leota 23', 64' |
| 9 | Brad O'Neill 28' | Hooker | 9 | Mitch Kenny |
| 10 | Liam Byrne 22', 63', 74' | Prop | 10 | James Fisher-Harris 30', 60' |
| 11 | Willie Isa | Second-row | 11 | Luke Garner 48', 69' |
| 12 | Liam Farrell | Second-row | 12 | Liam Martin |
| 13 | Kaide Ellis | Loose forward | 13 | Isaah Yeo |
| 15 | Patrick Mago 22', 48', 58', 63' | Interchange | 14 | Tyrone Peachey 66' |
| 17 | Kruise Leeming 28', 33' | 15 | Lindsay Smith 23', 69' | |
| 19 | Tyler Dupree 18', 58', 74' | 16 | Liam Henry 48', 64' | |
| 20 | Harvie Hill 48', 67' | 17 | Matt Eisenhuth 30', 60' | |
 Matt Peet | Head coach |  Ivan Cleary | ||
First Half
The first chance of the game went to Penrith, asWillie Isa knocked the ball on, inside his own 20 meter area with 25 seconds of the game played. However, Penrith couldn't take the advantage, and Wigan held on.
With 8 minutes played, Wigan got the first Try of the game, asBevan French found a pass out wide forAbbas Miski to touch down in the corner. Referee Liam Moore needed confirmation from the video referee. On-field decision: TRY - and confirmation from the video referee awarded the try.Harry Smith unable to add the extras. WIG 4–0 PEN.
With half time approaching, both teams looked to add points, and on 27 minutes, Penrith scored a try, asNathan Cleary's high kick on the last, was fumbled by Miski, with Cleary touching down under the sticks. Cleary converting his own try. WIG 4–6 PEN
Wigan then retook the lead, on 34 minutes, this time throughKruise Leeming, asWillie Isa managed to offload the ball, for Leeming to touch down next to the posts. Smith successful with the conversion. WIG 10–6 PEN
Wigan looked to be heading into half time with a narrow lead, but a set restart on the last tackle gave Penrith 6 more tackles, 20 meters out, andDylan Edwards went over for the Panthers’ 2nd try. and after a lengthy review from the video referee, the try was given. Cleary again successful with the conversion.
Half time: Wigan 10–12 Penrith.
Second Half
The first score of the 2nd half came on 53 minutes, asJake Wardle looked to have been held up, just metres short of the line on the last tackle. However, referee Liam Moore thought Wardle had scored, but couldn't be certain, so he went to the video referee, with the on-field line call as a try. Video referee Chris Kendall then viewed all available angles, and replays showed that Wardle was indeed short of the line, but slow motion replays appeared to show wardle being dragged back over the line, and somehow grounding the ball. after a lengthy review, he decided that he didn't have sufficient evidence to overturn the line call of try, therefore the try was awarded. Smith successful with the conversion.
WIG 16-12 PEN
With time running out for the panthers, Cleary broke through a gap in the Wigan defence, and found a pass out wide forTaylan May for what seemed a try, butJai Field with a last gasp tackle on May saw him dragged into touch and Wigan held on.
With 8 minutes left to play, Penrith knocked the ball on, on the halfway line, and Wigan got the ball back.Then,Harry Smith saw an opening, and kicked the ball through, andBevan French chased the ball down, and touched down under the posts, to win the game for Wigan, but it was ruled out for offside, as the video referee deemed French's foot was in front of Smith as he kicked the ball.
With less than a minute to play, Penrith were pushing for a late try, and with less than 30 seconds to play, the referee called for a set restart, andTaylan May looked to have scored a last gasp try for Penrith in the corner, but the referee sent it to the video ref, with a line call of no try, and after viewing all angles, the video referee said that he couldn't overturn the decision, as there was insufficient evidence to overrule the line call, and Wigan won the match, to win their first world club challenge since2017, and record equalling 5th title.
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Penrith Panthers:
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Wigan celebrated their victory during their opening homeleague fixture, againstHuddersfield Giants, with a trophy parade and player walk through from the club's fan village at theRobin Park Arena (their reserve stadium and training ground) to theDW Stadium. Match tickets were also reduced to £5.[8][9]
Wigan's victory marked the first timeSuper League sides had back to back victories in the competition without both matches being played in the UK. This reignited theNRL vs Super League debate, with Penrith head coachIvan Cleary admitted that the gap between the two competitions had narrowed and that the top Super League clubs were at NRL level.[10]
