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The 1994 MMI World Club Challenge was a replay of the
1992 World Club Challenge The 1992 World Club Challenge match was contested by the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan Warriors, Wigan and the 1992 NSWRL season's premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. The match took place on Friday night, 30 October in Engla ...
, with
1993–94 Rugby Football League season The 1993–94 Rugby Football League season was the 99th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August 1993 until May 1994 for a number of titles, primarily the Stones Bitter Championship. Season ...
champions
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
facing the
1993 NSWRL season The 1993 NSWRL season (known as the 1993 Winfield Cup Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eighty-sixth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. The New South Wales Rugby League's sixteen teams competed for the J. J. ...
premiers, the
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
, this time in Australia. Wigan were clearly the dominant club in the English game, having won the previous four consecutive
Rugby Football League Championship The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in Great Britain between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League. History 1895–1904: Foundations The first season of rugby leagu ...
s and
Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
tournaments. The Broncos, having won consecutive premierships in 1992 and 1993, were the dominant team in the Australian game at the time. In the World Club Challenge–this time played unusually late in the year–Wigan were looking to get revenge for their loss against Brisbane in the sides' previous encounter, and obtained a strong first-half lead. The English club then survived a second-half comeback from Brisbane and won the match, cementing their position as the world's dominant rugby league club of the period. Television coverage was provided by Australia's
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
with the game shown live in Great Britain by
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
. Commentary was provided by the Australian team of
Ray Warren Raymond Warren (born 11 June 1943) is an Australian retired sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of Ori ...
, Peter Sterling, Wigan's former coach
John Monie John Stephen Monie (born 6 October 1946) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He is probably best known for his coaching career where he won ...
with Gary Belcher the sideline reporter.”Wigan we’re good.”


Background


Brisbane Broncos

The 1993
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
season was the sixth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by
Allan Langer Allan Jeffrey "Alfie" Langer AM (born 30 July 1966) is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national team, the Queenslan ...
, they competed in the
NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...
's
1993 Winfield Cup The 1993 NSWRL season (known as the 1993 Winfield Cup Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eighty-sixth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. The New South Wales Rugby League's sixteen teams competed for the J. J. Gi ...
premiership, finishing the regular season 5th (out of 16) before going on to play in a re-match of the previous year's
grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
against the
St George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...
and again win, claiming consecutive premierships. In doing so they also became the first team in history to win the premiership from fifth position.


Wigan RLFC

The 1993–94
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
season was the 98th in the club's history. Coached by
John Dorahy John Kevin Dorahy (born 28 August 1954), also known by the nickname of "Joe Cool", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played in the Australian New South Wales Rugby League premiership and also represented ...
and captained by
Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 win ...
, they competed in the
1993–94 Rugby Football League season The 1993–94 Rugby Football League season was the 99th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August 1993 until May 1994 for a number of titles, primarily the Stones Bitter Championship. Season ...
, finishing the season at the top of the League to claim the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
for the fifth consecutive season.


Teams


Match details

The match was played at Brisbane's
ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...
on 1 June, in the middle of the
1994 NSWRL season The 1994 NSWRL season (known as the 1994 Winfield Cup Premiership due to sponsorship from Winfield (cigarette), Winfield) was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs, including 14 from within th ...
. A crowd of 54,220, which set the record attendance for a
World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...
(which still stands as of
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
), turned out for the game, which was refereed by Greg McCallum. Wigan's chances didn't look good against a star-studded Broncos side because both of their first-choice test props,
Kelvin Skerrett Kelvin Skerrett (born 22 May 1966) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and Coach (sports), coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for Great Britain national rugby league t ...
(broken jaw) and
Andy Platt Andrew Platt (born 9 October 1963) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward in the 1980s and 1990s. A Great Britain international representative , he played for English clubs St Helens, Wigan, W ...
had been ruled out as injured. In addition their coach
John Dorahy John Kevin Dorahy (born 28 August 1954), also known by the nickname of "Joe Cool", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played in the Australian New South Wales Rugby League premiership and also represented ...
had been sacked just weeks previously, so they went into the match under a caretaker coach: former Wigan captain and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
international
Graeme West Graeme Leonard West (born 5 December 1953) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer and coach. Standing at six-foot, five inches, he played in the forwards, captaining English club Wigan Warriors. West also played representative rugby ...
. With the Broncos not being the dominant force they had been in the previous two seasons (though still going well enough to be a top-five team in the
NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...
premiership at that stage), Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett experimented with his lineup somewhat for the game. Although named at fullback and wing respectively,
Wendell Sailor Wendell Jermaine Sailor (born 16 July 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international. In rugby league Sailor was a member of the succes ...
and
Willie Carne William Carne (born 23 January 1969) is a former Australian rugby footballer who played rugby league for the Brisbane Broncos from 1990 to 1996, as well as representing both Queensland and Australia and rugby union for the Queensland Reds. An at ...
swapped positions with Sailor going to the wing and Carne to fullback. Also, back rower Peter Ryan was moved to the bench with regular fullback
Julian O'Neill Brian Julian O'Neill (born 14 October 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a goal-kicking or , during his 14-year top-grade career he played with several clubs in both ...
moving to the unfamiliar position of lock forward to allow for the changes at fullback and wing.


First half

The match was played under international rules, meaning that when a player was substituted he could not return. Brisbane suffered early from this with the loss of five-eighth
Kevin Walters Kevin David Walters (born 20 October 1967) is an Australian former professional rugby league player and coach, as well as a pundit (2017–2018, 2025) for Fox League. As a first-grade player for the Canberra Raiders and the Brisbane Broncos c ...
in the fifth minute with an ankle injury. Wigan then opened the scoring in the seventh minute, when
Denis Betts Denis Charles Betts (born 14 September 1969) is an English rugby league coach and former player. He is the head-coach of Wigan Warriors Women and a former assistant coach of the England national team. A , Betts played in the 1980s, 1990s and ...
pounced on a high ball from
Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 win ...
and ran in for a try. The British champions added to this with another try in the sixteenth minute from Barrie-Jon Mather, bringing the unlikely score of 12–0 in favour of the visitors. In the twenty-seventh minute, Wendell Sailor opened the scoring for Brisbane when he beat
Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted ...
on the wing to put the ball down in the corner. The failed conversion meant a half-time lead for Wigan of 12–4. The first 20 minutes saw a number of on-field positional changes for the Broncos. With Walters off injured, John Plath came on with Julian O'Neill moved to five-eighth. Also, after originally starting with Willie Carne at fullback and Wendell Sailor on the wing, the two swapped positions following the Denis Betts try, while after Mather's try O'Neill dropped back to fullback when the Broncos were defending with Sailor moving into the front line.


Second half

Just three minutes into the second half, a defining moment in the game took place when Michael Hancock knocked on and Jason Robinson picked up the ball and sped away, beating Sailor to score Wigan's third try.
Frano Botica Frano Michael Botica (born 3 August 1963) is a New Zealand-Croatian rugby union and rugby league coach and former player in both codes, who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He is the head coach of the Philippines sevens team. He represented New ...
made it three from three with the boot when he kicked the conversion, bringing the score to 18–4. Brisbane staged a comeback, with Hancock making amends for his knock-on with a try on forty-six minutes and Julian O'Neill getting a try on fifty-nine minutes. Wigan's lead was reduced to four points, but their defence kept the Broncos out for the remainder of the game. A sixty-sixth-minute penalty by Botica meant a perfect night with the boot for him and a final score of 14–20.1994 World Club Challenge
at rugbyleagueproject.com


Post-match

Wigan's captain Shaun Edwards was named man-of-the-match and his team reclaimed the WCC trophy, going home with the $400,000 of prize money. With the
Super League war The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Sup ...
looming, this was to be the last WCC match until the
1997 World Club Championship The 1997 World Club Championship was an expansion of the World Club Challenge concept by Super League. The rugby competition was restructured to include all 22 clubs from the Australasian Super League and the Super League championships and was kn ...
which included all
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
-aligned clubs from the European competition and the Australasian Telstra Cup teams playing in a home-and-away-type championship. It was also the last time the British and Australian champions faced off until the year 2000, and as of the
2013 World Club Challenge The 2013 World Club Challenge (PROBIZ World Club Challenge for sponsorship purposes) was the fourteenth consecutive annual World Club Challenge and was contested by Super League XVII champions, Leeds Rhinos and 2012 NRL Premiers, the Melbourne St ...
this was also the last time the single-game format was played in Australia. The game returned there in 2014, with
Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...
hosting Wigan at Allianz Stadium.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Club Challenge
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
Brisbane Broncos matches Wigan Warriors matches Rugby league in Brisbane International rugby league competitions hosted by Australia 1994 in Australian rugby league 1994 in English rugby league