2009 | World Club Challenge|||||||||||||
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Date | 1 March 2009 | ||||||||||||
Stadium | Elland Road | ||||||||||||
Location | Leeds, England | ||||||||||||
Man of the Match | Anthony Watmough | ||||||||||||
Referee | Jason Robinson | ||||||||||||
Attendance | 32,569 | ||||||||||||
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The 2009 World Club Challenge was contested by Super League XIII champions, Leeds Rhinos, competing in their second consecutive World Club Challenge, and 2008 NRL Premiers, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. [1] For the first time since 2003, the Australian champions defeated their English counterparts. [2]
The match featured 28 penalties and two punch-ups which resulted in rival Props Josh Perry (Manly) and Jamie Peacock (Leeds) sin-binned in the 20th minute. with Manly's three quick tries in the first seven minutes after the break proving decisive. Leeds scored three tries of their own towards the end of the match, but by then it was too late. [3]
Leeds Rhinos qualified through being the 2008 Super League champions, defeating St. Helens 24 - 16 in the Grand Final. The Yorkshire club had already completed their first three rounds of Super League XIV before contesting the world Club Challenge, with wins in all of them.
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles clinched the 2008 National Rugby League Premiership with a 40-0 thrashing of the Melbourne Storm - an Australian grand final record, earning them a place in the World Club Challenge. Five months later they travelled to England, while other NRL clubs were starting pre-season trial matches against one another. Showing how serious Manly were, the week before the World Club Challenge the Sea Eagles had a warm-up match against Super League club Harlequins RL at The Stoop in London, winning 34-26. [4] Manly played the first half against the Harlequins with their bench players, and their regular starters only had the second half to work out any cobwebs as most had not played since either the Grand Final or the 2008 World Cup which had concluded four months before the WCC. It was the second time in a row a visiting team had played a warm-up match before the WCC with Melbourne having done so in 2008.
Leeds Rhinos | Manly-Warringah |
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The last time the Sea Eagles had played in England was in the 1987 World Club Challenge, a game their coach Des Hasler played in. They lost to Wigan that night and were hoping to win their first World Club title this time around. Leeds had played in the Challenge twice before, defeating their Australian counterparts on both occasions. After their victory over the Melbourne Storm the previous year, the Rhinos were hoping to become the first team in history to win consecutive titles.
Sunday 1 March 18:00 UTC+0 |
Leeds Rhinos | 20 – 28 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
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Tries: Danny McGuire Jamie Jones-Buchanan Ryan Hall Keith Senior Goals: Kevin Sinfield (2/4) | [5] | Tries: Brett Stewart (2) Anthony Watmough (2) Steve Matai Goals: Matt Orford (4/6) |
Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 32,569 Referee: Jason Robinson [1] Player of the Match: Anthony Watmough |
The first 20 minutes of the match were played from end to end in a very even contest. A legal tackle by Manly's Anthony Watmough in the 16th minute on Leeds' pint sized scrum-half Rob Burrow knocked him out and he played no further part in the match. [6] In the 20th minute a brawl erupted, front rowers Jamie Peacock and Josh Perry the main combatants. [7] Both players were sent to the sin-bin [8] and a penalty awarded to Manly. Sea Eagles captain Matt Orford opted to attack Leeds' line and Brett Stewart broke through the defence from dummy half to score the first points just after a quarter of the match had passed. [9] Orford converted the try so Manly had a 6–0 lead. Seven minutes later the Sea Eagles were again down in the Rhinos' half when Orford put a short ball onto the chest of a flying Anthony Watmough from 30 metres out to race through the defence and score (video replays suggested that Orford's pass to Watmough might have gone forward, but it was ruled ok by referee Jason Robinson). Orford's conversion pushed the Australian club's lead out to 12–0. Manly could have put the game beyond doubt seven minutes before half-time when Watmough charged onto a pass and broke through flimsy defence before popping a soft pass to a flying Brett Stewart who somehow managed to drop the ball with a try under the posts seemingly seconds away. In the 37th minute Leeds were just into Manly's half when they kicked ahead, regathered and got the ball to Danny McGuire who made it over the line but had the ball stripped from his grasp by Matt Orford in a one-on-one tackle before he could ground it. Jamie Jones-Buchanan was there to press the ball to the turf however, so the try was given by the video referee. Kevin Sinfield missed the relatively easy conversion, so Leeds were down 12–4. The score did not change during the remaining few minutes of the half.
Leeds started the 2nd half making a small break down the left hand side in the first minute after replacement Manly hooker Heath L'Estrange had given away a penalty. In the resulting play, McGuire got the ball to Ryan Hall who passed inside to Keith Senior who had the ball stripped on-on-one tackle by Jamie Lyon. The 2nd minute of play saw Manly make a break from the halfway line with Adam Cuthbertson getting the ball out to Michael Robertson on the left wing. Leeds winger (and former Manly player from 2003–05) Scott Donald attempted to tackle Robertson but he managed to get a pass away. Leeds centre Carl Ablett failed to gather the loose ball and managed to knock the ball straight into the waiting hands of Brett Stewart who had originally overrun the ball. The Manly fullback picked the ball up 12 metres out from the line and with no one to beat scored his second try of the night. [10] Orford missed the conversion, and the score was 16–4 in favour of the visiting team. The Sea Eagles scored again one minute later as they were returning the ball from the kick-off. Michael Robertson made another break down the right wing and centre kicked ahead for Brett Stewart who got a perfect bounce. Stewart came close to scoring but was forced to swerve soon after gathering the ball by a converging Ryan Hall who was flying in off his wing. Hall finally brought the Manly fullback down just 10 metres from the Rhino's line. From dummy half the ball then went left to Watmough at first receiver before Leeds' defence could regather and he went over for his second try of the game. Orford kicked the extras so Manly had gotten away to a 22–4 lead. When returning the following kick-off as well the Sea Eagles scored again, this time Shane Rodney made a break 25 metres from his own line and got to the Leeds 40 metre line before finding L'Estrange in support who in turn popped a pass to Steve Matai who had an easy 20 metre run to the line (even had Matai been caught, he still had an un-marked Robertson in support). Manly had scored their 3rd try in only 6 minutes and 45 seconds of the second half which had taken the game away from Leeds and silenced the mostly pro-Rhinos crowd, though there were a few Manly supporters scattered throughout the stadium and a group of supporters had come from Sydney to watch the Sea Eagles with Sky Sports television commentator Eddie Hemmings telling the audience that his director was finding them in the crowd as he himself was an Australian and just happened to be a Manly-Warringah fan. Orford missed the conversion so the Manly lead was 26–4.
In the 64th minute, after Leeds got repeat sets of six down near Manly's line, they moved the ball from one side of the field out to the other, a quick no-look pass from Ali Lautiiti sending Keith Senior over the line. Sinfield kicked the extras so the Rhinos were down 26–10 with fifteen minutes remaining. [11] After 71 and a half minutes, 30 metres out from Manly's line, Lautiiti made a run from dummy-half down the left side and threw another deft no-look pass to Ryan Hall who scored in the corner. Sinfield's kick from the sideline bounced through off one of the posts leaving the score at 26–16 with seven minutes of the match remaining. Another fight broke out in the 75th minute and again Leeds were penalised. The Sea Eagles opted to take the kick for goal, which Orford did successfully giving them a 28–16 lead. This made their lead 12 points with only 3 minutes remaining. Leeds got one more try in the final minute of the game, Keith Senior making a break from 60 metres out down the left wing before finding Danny McGuire in support to score in the corner just seconds before the final hooter. Sinfield's sideline conversion attempt was missed, so the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles had won the World Club Challenge for the first time, by a score of 28–20. Second-rower Anthony Watmough was named man-of-the-match.[ citation needed ]
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). The club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League season and currently hosts the majority of their home games at Brookvale Oval in Brookvale. They train at the New South Wales Academy of Sport in Narrabeen and their Centre of Excellence in Brookvale. The team colours are maroon and white, and they are commonly known as Manly.
Brett Stewart is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played fullback for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL). An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative fullback, he played his entire NRL career for the Sea Eagles, with whom he won the 2008 and 2011 Premierships.
Chris Hicks is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He last played for the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League (NRL). A former New South Wales country origin representative fullback or wing, he has previously played in the NRL for the Penrith Panthers and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles as well as playing for Warrington Wolves of the Super League.
Stephen Matai is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League from 2005 to 2016. A New Zealand national representative centre, he played for Australian club the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Matai helped the Sea Eagles win the 2008 and 2011 Premierships. He was also part of the New Zealand national squad that won the nation's maiden title at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Known particularly for his uncompromising defence, in 2020, Matai was voted the National Rugby League's hardest hitter over the past 30 years.
Glenn Stewart is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Leigh Centurions in the Super League. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative second-row, he previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL, winning the 2008 and 2011 premierships as well as the Clive Churchill Medal with the former.
Michael Robertson is a former Scotland international rugby league footballer. His usual position was on the wing but he could also play as a fullback with equal ability. He played for the London Broncos in the Super League, and the Canberra Raiders and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL. He was considered a player with natural pace and try scoring ability.
The 2008 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2008 NRL season. It was played between the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm on Sunday, 5 October at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
The 2008 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested between Super League XII champions, the Leeds Rhinos and National Rugby League season 2007 premiers, the Melbourne Storm. For the fifth consecutive year the English home team defeated their Australian counterparts.
David Williams is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played on the wing in the 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia international representative, he played his entire professional career with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL, winning the 2008 NRL Premiership with them.
The 2009 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 60th in the club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season the 5th. The Sea Eagles were then knocked out in the first week of the play-offs by eventual premiers, the Melbourne Storm.
The 2009 Super League Grand Final was the 12th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIV season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2009, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by defending champions and 2009 League Leaders Leeds Rhinos, and the team they had faced in the grand final for the past two years, St. Helens.
The 2010 World Club Challenge was a rugby league tournament contested by Super League XIV champions, Leeds Rhinos, and 2009 NRL Premiers the Melbourne Storm. This was Leeds' third consecutive appearance in the World Club Challenge, and the second appearance in three years for Melbourne. Melbourne and Leeds previously played each other in the 2008 World Club Challenge with Leeds winning that match 11 - 4.
Daly Cherry-Evans is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a halfback for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia at international level.
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The 2011 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the NRL's 2011 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the New Zealand Warriors on the afternoon of Sunday, 2 October, and it was the first time the two sides have met in a grand final. Manly won the match, 24–10, for the club's eighth premiership.
The 2011 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 62nd in the club's history. Coached by Des Hasler and co-captained by Jamie Lyon and Jason King, they competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) 2011 Telstra Premiership, and finished the regular season in second place. The Sea Eagles then qualified for the NRL grand final, in which they defeated the New Zealand Warriors, claiming the club's eighth first-grade premiership.
The 2012 World Club Challenge was the thirteenth consecutive World Club Challenge and was contested by Super League XVI champions, Leeds Rhinos and 2011 NRL Premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
The 2013 World Club Challenge was the fourteenth consecutive annual World Club Challenge and was contested by Super League XVII champions, Leeds Rhinos and 2012 NRL Premiers, the Melbourne Storm. It took place on Friday 22 February at 8pm GMT. Melbourne prevailed after a hard-fought contest 18-14.
The 2013 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2013 NRL season. Played on Sunday, 6 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the minor premiers Sydney Roosters and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. The Roosters won the match 26–18 to claim their 13th premiership title, and became the first team since the St George Illawarra Dragons in 2010 to win both the minor premiership and the premiership in the same season.
The 2008 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 62nd in the club's history. Coached by Des Hasler and captained by Matt Orford, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2008 Telstra Premiership.