For St Helens, creating rugby league history has always been second nature. No club has won more Super League titles, with only Leeds able to match their six, and nobody has finished top of the pile in the competition as many times as they have, with seven table-topping campaigns since 1996.
On Sunday Saints go in search of a third World Club Challenge title, something that would elevate them to an exclusive list. Defeating South Sydney Rabbitohs, the National Rugby League champions, would take them level with giants of the game – Sydney Roosters, Wigan, Leeds and Bradford – on a trio of successes.
However, Keiron Cunningham’s side, who have started the defence of their Super League title with two wins, will face a side with history on their side. Five of the past six world finals have been won by Australian sides, including the Roosters defeated of Wigan in Sydney last year. Friday’s victory by St George Illawarra, who finished 11th and missed the play-offs in the NRL last season, over Warrington, who finished third in Super League and were at home, was another reminder that Super League has some way to go to halt that sequence.
It was not always the case. After the World Club Challenge was relaunched as an annual fixture in 2000, the general consensus was that Australian sides did not take it seriously, almost treating the game as a warm-up match for their season, which traditionally starts later than Super League. From 2001, there were seven wins in eight years for English teams; now, though, the NRL boasts the bragging rights.
But while the Rabbitohs, owned by lifelong Souths fan Russell Crowe, have history on their side, St Helens will have the benefit of a raucous crowd behind them. Langtree Park has been sold out for weeks and the Saints captain, Jon Wilkin, said: “It’s going to be a special night for the town in general, not just the club. The atmosphere will be electrifying, and we’ve got some good momentum going now. The club has done a tremendous job in selling and marketing the game. Langtree Park was built for nights like this, that’s the whole point behind it. There’s a fantastic atmosphere when it’s nearly full, and I can’t wait to get out in front of a packed house.”
Souths will present a stern test in a game that acts as the pinnacle of the new World Club Series, and with the gargantuan Burgess twins, George and Thomas, heading their challenge, they are justifiable favourites. Their brother Samthe former Souths man turned union player with Bath, will be present to cheer on the Rabbitohs alongside Crowe.
Such is his passion for rugby league, it is apt that Crowe has chosen to attend this game rather than be at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday, since the 34 men who do battle for the title of best club side in the world could be about to play out a Hollywoodesque script for the ages. Simply put, it is one not to be missed.
