Do you remember when the World Club Challenge wasn’t just a pre-season trial match?
I do….but more importantly, the famous Wigan Rugby League club remembers as well.
In 1994 Wigan flew to Brisbane to take on the 1993 Grand Final winners in the Brisbane Broncos. They beat the Broncos that night 20-14. It was June the 1st, right in the middle of the Australian season.
That was the last Rugby League team from the northern hemisphere that was universally considered to be the best club in the world.
Wigan are a proud club with an incredible history. They don’t play games like other clubs, probably because they don’t have too. You don’t need to play make believe when you have a history of actually being the best in the world.
Its for that reason that I think it would be amazing to see Wigan play the 2024 World Club Challenge at the NRL’s Magic Weekend, in Brisbane, during the middle of the season, against the three time NRL Champion Penrith Panthers.
What an incredible punctuation to the Magic Weekend to see Wigan take on Penrith. A neutral venue, a full house at Suncorp Stadium, a proper showdown between the best in the NRL and the best in Super League.
Imagine the legend Wigan would create by winning that game?
Wigan don’t have to imagine…they’ve done it before.
That is why I think Wigan would not only consider playing the game mid season, but relish the opportunity to repeat the historic 1994 team that were unquestionably the champions of the world!
Watch the entire 1994 World Club Challenge between Wigan and the Brisbane Broncos below:
