Talking RL: 'My hope for the future of the World Club Challenge'

The fifth ‘stars’ for the shirts remained in the embroiders’ sewing kit, after the club’s quest for another World Club Challenge title fell short.

Defeats, however brave, however entertaining, are rarely remembered. While the very mention of ‘Manly’, ‘Brisbane’ and ‘Cronulla’ bring Cherry and White tinted memories rushing back for so many, the loss to St George Illawarra in 2011 draws sketchy recollections for many more, even though it was a great contest.

And that will be the case with Sunday evening’s game, in which the Warriors handed their classy opponents the game early on and spent the next 70 minutes trying to claw it back.

Could Wigan have snatched victory with a bit more luck and a bit better judgement? Probably.

Did they deserve to win it? Probably not.

Because for all their effort and endeavour, they didn’t match the composure or skill-level of their opponents.

But honestly, if someone had offered me last week a defeat in which Wigan – and Super League – still emerged with credit, I’d have taken it.

The Sydney Roosters are a formidable side, with the same (Australian international) playmakers who eased past Melbourne Storm in last year’s Grand Final.

“I just hope it’s not a blow-out,” was a popular wish in the press room.

And when the Warriors were 10 points down inside as many minutes, it looked as if it could have been embarrassing. Thankfully, though, the hosts found energy and enterprise, threatened a comeback and went down fighting to better opponents.

Trent Robinson’s plea over securing the future of the World Club Challenge – rather than it being an October after-thought – has earned the backing of Souths general manager Shane Richardson.

“We have to look this and make it a major part of our schedule and fabric and build on it,” he told NRL.com. “The reality is it’s a fantastic opportunity for clubs in the Super League and NRL to grow the brands of their clubs. We’ve taken a game to Jacksonville, we’ve been to Cairns and Perth and we tried to get a game in Los Angeles this year.”

I’m all for using the WCC as a vehicle to grow the sport. But before we hear talk about moving it abroad – or even playing it at the end of the season – let’s walk before we run; get all the clubs on-board now, sort the finance out, lock in a date and host nation for the next few years, and take it from there.

There are very few English players who earn such universal acclaim from their peers without playing in the NRL.

Keiron Cunningham was one, Paul Sculthorpe another, and Sean O’Loughlin is without question in that group.

In all my years covering Wigan, I can’t tell you how much praise I’ve heard from both team-mates and opponents – at club and Test level. I really don't care what Ned from Hull tweets about him when Adrian Morley says he would have taken the NRL by storm!

After the World Club Challenge, official man of the match Brett Morris labelled the Wigan skipper “outstanding”, while coach Trent Robinson’s salute that “If Sean O’Loughlin is not one of the best players in the world... he’s an incredible player” was completely unprompted.

O’Loughlin is 36. What odds on him emulating Morley or even Steve Menzies, who played on until 38 and 39 respectively?

It was nearly 11pm – four hours after kick-off! – when Cooper Cronk finally emerged from the victorious dressing room.

His team-mates only surfaced minutes earlier.

And don’t worry, this is not one of those ‘journalist having a moan because he missed last orders’ rants! Because the reason for their delay was because they spent so long afterwards lapping the pitch, signing autographs, having their pictures taken with supporters.

Prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves even invited fan Connah Campbell onto the pitch, and gave him his boots as a memento. It was great to see. They have a classy coach in Robinson and his players were great ambassadors from start to finish.

So good luck to the Sydney Roosters in 2019. They’ve certainly won many fans in Wigan.

The Sunday Times’ preview – a nostalgic piece by Chris Irvine, focusing on the Wigan’s history in the competition – was headlined: “Wigan Warriors go for fifth world crown against opponents who don’t care.”

While some NRL clubs have certainly showed an apathy towards the annual fixture, there’s no doubting the Roosters’ keenness to be involved, preparation, line-up, and performance showed that they did care (cue complaints to Chris – who quickly pointed out he didn’t write the headline!).

The sports editor of the paper has apologised to fans who have complained about the headline, saying, “You are quite correct. It was a poor reflection of the feature and should have not gone into print.”

A tip of the hat to Warrington, not only for signing a player called ‘Luther’, but for bringing him in from rugby union, too.

In recruiting Luther Burrell, they made use if the ‘new talent pool dispensation’ which is available to all clubs, allowing them to take a gamble on athletes from other sports without the risk of them taking up a considerable chunk on the salary cap.

As such, regardless of how much the Wolves are paying, Burrell won’t count on the Wolves’ cap this year or next, and only 50 per cent the following season.

I hope it encourages other clubs to do the same.

Finally, I was saddened to read that Widnes couldn’t pay employees yesterday after a takeover fell through.

It’s sad to see such a famous name of the sport go through such tough times. There are a lot of good people at the Vikings, both on and off the pitch.

I hope everything works out soon.