Hull KR are one month away from competing in their first ever World Club Challenge, as they welcome Brisbane Broncos to the city one month today.
The game will be played at Hull FC’s MKM Stadium, and a sold out crowd of over 24,000 will be in attendance.
Willie Peters will have the chance to earn his fourth trophy over the last 12 months, whilst the Broncos will be looking to win their third World Club Challenge, with their last coming in 1997.
However instead of looking forward to that game, we have opted to join the recent trend of looking back at what happened in 2016, and it’s fair to say the event was iconic, for a number of reasons.
How the World Club Challenge looked in 2016
Three-match series
The biggest change from 10 years ago to now is that the event wasn’t just one match, it had three. Between 2015-2017, the ‘World Club Series’ was introduced, whereby three Super League teams would play three NRL teams across a weekend, with the final game of the event being the World Club Challenge as we know it.
In 2016, the three teams that made the trip from Australia were Sydney Roosters, Brisbane and North Queensland Cowboys.
Game one of the weekend saw the Roosters take on St Helens, a match that also commemorated the 40th instalment of the event.
The following day, Wigan Warriors faced Brisbane, and a certain Greg Eden, who is now plying his trade at North Wales Crusaders, managed to get on the scoresheet for the Broncos.
The World Club Challenge saw 2015 treble winners Leeds Rhinos take on North Queensland Cowboys, a match made famous for a number of reasons.
NRL whitewash
Despite having three attempts, no Super League side could pick up a victory, as the Aussies took a clean sweep across the weekend.
St Helens were defeated 38-12, but did significantly improve in the second half – though that wouldn’t have provided any solace.
Brisbane defeated Wigan 42-12, as Corey Oates and Kodi Nikorima scored try doubles. Dan Sarginson and George Williams got on the scoresheet for the Warriors.
Despite going into the break at 4-4, Leeds’ second half performance cost them the game, and the Cowboys blew the English Champions away. Two tries in seven minutes for Justin O’Neill helped his side to a 38-4 win.
Infamous punch
In that game between the Cowboys and the Rhinos, undoubtedly the most memorable moment was the red card that saw Mitch Garbutt walk from the field for a punch on James Tamou.
Tamou and Leeds prop Keith Galloway were involved in an altercation after the Leeds man tackled him, and Garbutt decided to help his teammate out, albeit illegally.
The game was already lost by that point, but his efforts certainly didn’t help matters. He was subsequently suspended for two matches.
Future Super League stars on show
Whilst we didn’t know it at the time, there were a plethora of would-be Super League talents on show across the three matches.
For the Roosters, Blake Ferguson and Shaun Kenny-Dowall played in the back line, a few years before they would join Leigh and Hull KR respectively.
A very young halves pairing saw new Saints half-back Jackson Hastings partner Bradford playmaker Jayden Nikorima, whilst former Hull FC prop Kane Evans started the game.
Ex-Catalans duo Dylan Napa and Sio Siua Taukeiao were also in the starting 13, whilst Leigh captain Isaac Liu joined ex-Catalans duo Sam Moa and Ian Henderson on the bench.
For Brisbane, the aforementioned Eden started on the wing, whilst ex-Warrington enforcer Josh McGuire featured in the front row.
Ex-Catalans prop Jarrod Wallace and current Leigh ace Joe Ofahengaue joined the action from the bench.
The Cowboys also had their future Super League stars too, with the most notable one being former St Helens and Hull KR full-back Lachlan Coote.
Joining him in the back five were current Saints winger Kyle Feldt and ex-Robin Kane Linnett. Former Leigh and now Hull FC star John Asiata featured off the bench.
