Wigan Warriors smash amazing ticket selling landmark

Wigan Warriors have confirmed that their World Club Challenge clash against NRL Champions Penrith Panthers has sold out.

This comes after the club smashed the 23,000 ticket sale marker as well as a sell-out for the South Stand. In quick succession, the club have now been able to confirm a sell-out for the game against the reigning NRL Champions.

Penrith come into the game having won the last three NRL Grand Finals against South Sydney Rabbitohs, Parramatta Eels and most recently Brisbane Broncos. The Panthers also contested the 2020 Grand Final coming up short against Melbourne Storm on that occassion.

However, the World Club Challenge, which is just over a month away on the 24th of February, has illuded them after they were stunned by St Helens at home last year.

With a point to prove they head to Wigan to right that wrong and will have the chance in front of a sell-out crowd.

Wigan Warriors star 2024 with a win

In their first game of 2024, Wigan fielded a team that was a mix of Academy and Reserves players against Midlands Hurricanes. They fell behind 8 minutes into the game when the Hurricanes worked play wide to Jason Bass on the wing who touched down in the corner. Brad Billsborough missed the conversion attempt.

The hosts almost extended their lead 3 minutes later when Max Kirkbright went over in the opposite corner, but referee Kevin Moore disallowed the score due to an obstruction in the build-up.

The opening 15 minutes saw end-to-end action, with Wigan denied a response after Tom Forber was initially held up. The Hurricanes stood firm to keep Finley Beardsworth out on the final tackle following a dangerous kick in behind from Jack Farrimond.

Despite sustained pressure from the Warriors, Midlands extended their lead in the 32nd minute when Daniel Barcoe dummied his way through the middle before offloading to Jon-Luke Kirby who powered over from 5m out. Billsborough added the extras to put the Hurricanes 10-0 ahead.

The Warriors scored twice quickly to lead 12-10 at the break. First, Brown crashed over off the back of a powerful carry from Harvey Makin, before Tom Ratchford’s burst from the play the ball allowed Kerr to step aside the Hurricanes defence to score beneath the sticks.

The Hurricanes regained the lead less than two minutes into the second half when Matty Welham accelerated clear before passing outside to Bass, who grounded his second of the match. The points difference remained two after the touchline conversion attempt was missed.

Midlands defended strongly to deny Tiaki Chan a try on his first Wigan outing. However, the Birmingham-based side were unable to prevent Brown from powering over for a second time with 53 minutes on the clock. Farrimond continued his perfect record from the tee to kick Wigan 18-14 ahead.

A forward pass denied Bass a hat-trick on the hour before the Warriors extended their advantage further when Ratchford’s short pass allowed Kerr to crash through the tackle to ground under pressure. Farrimond kicked Wigan 24-14 ahead with 10 minutes remaining.

The League One side finished with confidence as Sam Bowring burst through the middle to score with the last attack of the game. Dave Hewitt added the extras to bring the match to a close. The Warriors held on to win 24-20.

How can I watch the World Club Challenge?

For fans wanting to watch the game who now can’t get tickets, Sky Sports will be covering the game. There have also been reports that BBC will be able to cover the game as well as part of the new TV deal they are set to agree with RL Commercial.

BBC are set to show Super League games on BBC Two on Saturday evenings from 17:30 with a kick-off time of 18:00 replacing the games Channel 4 have shown in 2022 and 2023.

This game would be a slight departure from that kicking off at 8 pm on a Saturday night.