2023 World Club Challenge

2023 (2023) World Club Challenge  ()
Penrith Stadium during the match
Penrith Panthers St Helens (NRL) (Super League) 12 13
1 2 GP1 Total PEN 0 12 0 12 STH 10 2 1 13
Date	18 February 2023
Stadium	BlueBet Stadium
Location	Sydney, Australia
Man of the Match	Jack Welsby (St Helens)
Referee	Ashley Klein (Australia)
Attendance	13,873
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Fox League Māori Television Sky Sports Channel 4
Commentators	Andrew Voss Greg Alexander Matt Russell (sideline)
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The 2023 World Club Challenge (known as the 2023 Betfred World Club Challenge for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th staging of the World Club Challenge. The match was contested by the NRL winners Penrith Panthers, and Super League champions St Helens. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Background

See also: 2023 NRL pre-season results

The challenge was played for the first time since 2020 as the global COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the intervening fixtures. ^[4]

Penrith Panthers

Further information: 2022 Penrith Panthers season and 2022 NRL Grand Final

Penrith defeated Parramatta Eels in the 2022 NRL Grand Final, which qualified them for the 2023 World Club Challenge.

St Helens

Further information: 2022 St Helens RLFC season and 2022 Super League Grand Final

St Helens and the Leeds Rhinos competed in the 2022 Super League Grand Final, for a record fifth time at Old Trafford, which saw St Helens win 24–12.

Pre-match

Team selection

Following the departures of Viliame Kikau, Apisai Koroisau, and Charlie Staines to other clubs, Penrith fielded a team with 11 members of their 2022 grand final team. 2022 Clive Churchill Medallist and regular fullback Dylan Edwards missed the match through injury, ^[5] with Liam Martin and Scott Sorensen also absent through injury concerns. ^[6]

Officiating

Australian referee Ashley Klein was selected to referee his third World Club Challenge, having previously been in charge of the 2008 and 2012 fixtures.

Match

Summary

The match was originally scheduled to kick off at 18:00 AEDT but due to the extreme heat and humidity forecast for that time, the kick off time was put back to 18:50 AEDT. ^[7] The NRL also announced that the game will be played in four quarters of 20 minutes each, with each team allowed an additional interchange player and two extra interchanges allowed during the match. ^[8] Despite the forecast, a large storm hit the stadium shortly before kick-off, with torrential rain falling for a lot of the match.

St Helens scored twice early through Jack Welsby and Konrad Hurrell, eventually taking a 10-0 lead to half time.

After an extended half time break due to lightning above the stadium, Penrith finally got on the board in the 52nd minute through Izack Tago, before St Helens added a penalty goal to extend their lead to 12-6.

Saints looked to have won the match with two minutes remaining, but Brian To'o scored a try to bring Penrith to within two points, before Nathan Cleary kicked the conversion, to send the match to extra time.

St Helens eventually won the match 13–12, after a knock on from Penrith gave Saints possession near the halfway line, before Lewis Dodd kicked the winning drop goal. ^[9]

Details

18 February 2023 18:50 AEDT (UTC+11)

Penrith Panthers	12 – 13 (g.p.)	St Helens
Tries:2 Tago  53' To'o  79' Goals:2 Cleary  54', 80'(2/2)	1st: 0–10 2nd: 12–2 ET: 0–1 Report	Tries:2 Welsby  9' Hurrell  17' Goals:2 Makinson  10'(1/2) Percival  pen 44'(1/1) Drop goals:1 Dodd  83'

BlueBet Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 13,873 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Touch judges: Darian Furner (Australia), Dave Munro (Australia) Player of the Match: Jack Welsby (St Helens)

Team details

Penrith Panthers		Position	St Helens
Name	Number		Number	Name
Stephen Crichton	1	Fullback	1	Jack Welsby
Taylan May	2	Wing	2	Tommy Makinson
Izack Tago	3	Centre	23	Konrad Hurrell
Sunia Turuva	4	Centre	4	Mark Percival
Brian To'o	5	Wing	3	Will Hopoate
Jarome Luai	6	Five eighth/Stand off	6	Jonny Lomax
Nathan Cleary (c)	7	Half back/Scrum half	7	Lewis Dodd
Moses Leota	8	Prop forward	8	Alex Walmsley
Mitch Kenny	9	Hooker	9	James Roby (c)
James Fisher-Harris	10	Prop forward	10	Matty Lees
Luke Garner	11	Second row	11	Sione Mata'utia
Zac Hosking	12	Second row	16	Curtis Sironen
Isaah Yeo	13	Lock forward/Loose forward	13	Morgan Knowles
Jack Cogger	14	Interchange	14	Joey Lussick
Matthew Eisenhuth	15	Interchange	15	Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Spencer Leniu	16	Interchange	17	Agnatius Paasi
Jaeman Salmon	17	Interchange	18	Jake Wingfield
Lindsay Smith	18	Interchange	19	James Bell
Ivan Cleary		Coach		Paul Wellens
RLP

Statistics

Statistic Penrith Panthers St Helens Tries 2 2 Conversions 2 1 Penalty goals (attempts) 0 (0) 1 (1) Field goals (attempts) 0 (0) 1 (3) Possession Possession 49% 51% Total sets 48 47 Completed sets 34 37 Completion rate 70% 78% Attacking All runs 203 197 All run metres 1740 1602 Line breaks 1 3 Offloads 5 10 Defending Kick metres 614 861 40/20 0 0 Tackles 415 409 Missed tackles 29 41 Goal line dropouts 1 2 Try saves 0 0 Discipline Penalties conceded 3 6 Errors 16 11 Send offs 0 0 Sin bins 0 0 Reference: NRL Match Centre

Penrith Panthers: Most runs: 26 – Stephen Crichton Most running metres: 214 – Stephen Crichton Most line breaks: 1 – Taylan May Most tackles: 51 – Zac Hosking Most missed tackles: 5 – Mitch Kenny Most errors: 3 – Nathan Cleary St Helens: Most runs: 21 – Will Hopoate Alex Walmsley Most running metres: 181 – Alex Walmsley Most line breaks: 1 – Konrad Hurrell Mark Percival Curtis Sironen Most tackles: 50 – James Roby Morgan Knowles Most missed tackles: 7 – Morgan Knowles Most errors: 3 – Jack Welsby

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast in Australia on subscription television channel Fox League and streamed via Kayo Sports. In the United Kingdom, Channel 4 and Sky Sports showed the match live. ^[10]

References

1. McAllister, Josh (10 November 2022). "World Club Challenge to return in 2023 as Channel 4 confirm coverage". LoveRugbyLeague.
2. "Saints to face Panthers in World Club Challenge". www.superleague.co.uk.
3. "World Club Challenge: How to watch St Helens' clash with Penrith Panthers and NRL Pre-Season Challenge games on Sky". Sky Sports.
4. "Panthers v St Helens: Martin to miss; Knowles returns". National Rugby League. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
5. Blyth, Jack (17 February 2023). "Penrith reveal reason behind Edwards' World Club Challenge absence". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
6. "Penrith lose duo for World Club Challenge". espn.com.au. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
7. Darbyshire, Drew (14 February 2023). "World Club Challenge kick-off time knocked back due to extreme heat". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
8. Walker, Callum (14 February 2023). "Four important rule changes for World Club Challenge clash as St Helens aim up to Penrith Panthers". TotalRL.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
9. "St Helens stun Penrith to win World Club Challenge". BBC Sport.
10. Molyneaux, Mark (16 February 2023). "World Club Challenge 2023: When is it, how to watch, who is playing, preview". The Sporting News. Retrieved 22 March 2023.