World Club Series

[TITAN PETE]

39-0 great performance Souths but can't get over how biased the commentators & man of the match selectors were George Burgess wasn't even close to it , Issac Luke was easily the best on the park..

The series was good to watch with the 1st 2 matches going down to the wire but St George & the Donkeys won't be anywhere near the top of the table or even in the 8 but both still beat 2 of the poms best teams , imagine what would happen if the 3 Aussie teams were match fit .... Huge gap between the 2 competitions..

But it's great to beat the Poms anytime in any sport

[C-Whiz]

What Pete said.

Putting the top teams against each other in fair conditions showed the difference between the comps.
Like the cricket, our middle order can still beat the old Darts best.

[TITAN PETE]

Rabbitohs romp to record WCC win
By Joe Barton
AAP
8:14am Mon 23rd February, 2015



South Sydney put the Bunny blitz on Super League champions St Helens to emphatically confirm their status as world champions with a record-breaking 39-0 win.

The one-sided World Club Challenge win, which was all but over following a 24-0 first half onslaught, also handed the NRL sides a cleansweep of the inaugural World Club Series.

"Excellent," was all coach Michael Maguire needed to muster when asked how it felt to be world champions.

"I'm really proud of the players ... It was a great performance."

Capping off an incredible six months for the club, the Rabbitohs are now in possession of the World Club Challenge trophy in addition to the Provan-Summons trophy as NRL premiers, the Charity Shield and also won the Nines tournament last month.

On hand to watch Sunday night's devastating performance in St Helens was Clive Churchill medal winner Sam Burgess and co-owner Russell Crowe, who shunned the glitz and glamour of the Oscars red carpet for a two-degree night in the north of England.

At least the Rabbitohs helped justify his decision with an award-winning performance of their own.

Deflated St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham said his team knew what was coming, but were simply not capable of preventing the avalanche of points.

"We just got schooled by the best side in the world," he said.

A late Adam Reynolds field goal ensured the mauling eclipsed the 38-point WCC wins by the Sydney Roosters in 2003 and Melbourne Storm in 2000 - both of which were also against St Helens.

The Rabbitohs scored early and often, rarely letting up between their opening try in the third minute and their seventh in the 67th.

They stated their intentions when off-season recruit Glenn Stewart scored from his first touch for the club in a competitive match, in just the third minute.

The former Manly backrower cleaned up the scraps from a Reynolds kick which was missed by the initial chasers.

A Reynolds penalty goal extended the lead, before the Bunnies crossed again - this time through the explosive Dylan Walker on 20 minutes.

Walker, showing why he is favoured to break into the NSW Origin side this year, backed up a Reynolds line-break and did well to beat two defenders on a swerving 30-metre run.

Greg Inglis compounded the pain four minutes later when he backed up a Bryson Goodwin offload and introduced Langtree Park to his trademark goanna try celebration when he extended the lead to 18-0.

The 17,980-strong crowd were on the verge of begging for mercy after 31 minutes when an awkward banana kick from deposed skipper John Sutton, now playing in the second-row, took a wicked bounce past half a dozen St Helens players, and sat up kindly for Joel Reddy to score the first of his two tries.

It took just six minutes into the second half for the rout to resume, with five-eighth Luke Keary grabbing the spoils from a Reynolds bomb as the scoreline ticked past 30, and it grew further when Chris McQueen sliced through some butter-soft defence out wide.

Souths had Walker, Reynolds, Sutton and Bryson Goodwin all leave the field with concussion, but Maguire they'd recovered well and were expected to be available against Brisbane on Thursday week in the NRL season-opener.

[DIEHARD]

World Club Series hailed as a success

[DIEHARD]

SLTV: Crowe has 'butterflies' for World Club Challenge

[DIEHARD]

SLTV: Crowe hopes Rabbitohs are an inspiration

[DIEHARD]

World Club Series set to be expanded in 2016 and include top 3 teams

The World Club Series may be expanded further next year to include four teams from both the NRL and Super League, including this season's top three highest finishing sides.

Officials will conduct a review of the tournament before deciding what format it should take next year, but the success of the three matches last weekend has ensured the World Club Series becomes a regular fixture on the rugby league calendar, with ratings figures in Britain comparable to those for the Super League grand final.

With the three invited NRL clubs, South Sydney, Brisbane and St George Illawarra, reaping financial benefits from their decision to travel to England in a bid to kick-start a competition that organisers hope will become like football's UEFA Champions League, other clubs are understood to be keen on playing next season.

South Sydney co-owner Russell Crowe took a group of investors in his latest movie, The Water Diviner, to Sunday's World Club Challenge against St Helens, while the club's other owner, James Packer, used the match to raise the international profile of his Crown empire, which includes Crown Aspinalls in London, by taking over the jersey sponsorship from Fujitsu Air Conditioning.

"I think for us as a club globally, it opens up so many doors," Souths coach Michael Maguire said after his team's WCC record 39-0 defeat of the Super League premiers at Langtree Park.

"For our sponsors and Crown and every other sponsor that is involved it actually opens them up to the world now and from that point alone I think financially for clubs there is definitely going to be a big interest."

With 330,000 viewers watching the game live on SKY pay TV in the United Kingdom and another 1 million tuning in to a highlights package on the BBC, Crown got exposure in the UK the company would not have otherwise attracted.

The three matches were either sold out or near capacity and attracted significantly bigger crowds than usual.

St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor suggested after his side's 18-12 defeat of Warrington on Friday night that the competition be expanded to four teams next season and it is understood officials are considering the possibility of a double-header at a bigger venue, with the other two games to remain as standalone events.

"I enjoyed it, I think we should keep growing it and make it up to four teams," McGregor said.

Besides the three Super League clubs who played in the inaugural World Club Series, Leeds, Catalans and Hull FC were also keen to be involved, while Widnes coach Denis Betts said last week that qualifying for the tournament would be a good ambition for his team.

It is understood the Warriors made enquires about playing after the Dragons withdrew from a trial match against the Auckland-based club to take up the third NRL spot in the WCS, while other NRL clubs are believed to have expressed interest in being involved.

The Rabbitohs, Broncos and Dragons were invited this year because organisers wanted big name clubs to guarantee the success of the tournament, but it is envisaged that teams will eventually need to qualify for places in the WSC, as they do in the Champions League.

However, one suggestion for next year is that the top three NRL clubs play, along with one invited team.

Other proposals include places being made available for the NRL premiers and minor premiers, as well as the highest finishing teams from NSW, Queensland and New Zealand if they haven't already qualified.

Super League could offer the fourth place to the winner of the Challenge Cup final.

Super League Europe general manager Blake Solly hailed the success of the tournament.

"We are having a debrief with our clubs over the next seven days and I know the NRL is planning something similar," Solly said.

"As soon as that process is complete we will get together and start planning for next year but we are keen to host again and really keen to get another three great clubs from the NRL over here.

"Obviously we were disappointed with the result of the World Club Challenge but I suspect there are not many NRL clubs who would have beaten South Sydney in the form they showed on Sunday night and the other two games could have gone either way."

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/