The 2008 Carnegie

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 ...

was contested between

Super League XII Engage Super League XII is the official name for the year 2007's Super League season in the sport of rugby league. The 2007 season kicked off on the weekend of 2 February 2007 at the Galpharm Stadium. For the first time, the league had a stagge ...

champions, the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

and

National Rugby League season 2007 The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusi ...

premiers, the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

. For the fifth consecutive year the English home team defeated their Australian counterparts.

Qualification

Leeds Rhinos

Leeds Rhinos qualified through being the 2007 Super League champions, defeating St. Helens 33–6 in the Grand Final.

Melbourne Storm

Melbourne Storm clinched the 2007 National Rugby League title in a 34–8 belting of Manly, earning them a place in the World Club Challenge. Melbourne played a warm-up game against

National League One National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

team Halifax.

Teams

Melbourne's squad included 11 members of the 2007 premiership team, but were missing captain

Cameron Smith Cameron or Cam Smith may refer to: * Cammie Smith (Cameron Wilberforce Smith, born 1933), West Indian cricketer * Cam Smith (artist), British comic book artist * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league player * Cameron S ...

who had stayed in Australia to be present for the birth of his first child.

Match details

Summary

The match was played in cold and windy conditions, four rounds into the 2008 Super League competition and one week before the start of the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstra Premiership title. The sea ...

. 33,204 spectators turned out at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

, in Leeds for a hard-fought, low-scoring match in which each side scored a try apiece, with Leeds ultimately coming out winners, due largely to the goal kicking of

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is an English rugby union coach, currently the skills and kicking coach for the England national rugby union team, England national team. He is a former professional rugby league player for Leeds Rhinos, ...

. The win meant the English champions side defeated their Australian counterparts for the fifth consecutive year.

First half

opened the scoring for Leeds, converting a penalty goal from directly in front of the posts, but Melbourne would score the first try with acting captain

Cooper Cronk Cooper Patrick Cronk (born 5 December 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An n international and Queensland rugby league team, Queensland State of Origin series, State of Origin ...

sending

Ryan Hoffman Ryan Hoffman (born 26 January 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for Melbourne Storm and the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League, and the Wigan Warriors ...

over the line in the 16th minute to take a 4–2 lead. Steve Turner could not add the conversion in the blustery conditions.

Danny McGuire Daniel Phillip McGuire (born 6 December 1982) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is the head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. He played as a or and spent the majority of h ...

would leave the field in the half due to a shoulder injury, however in his absence, Leeds would take a half time lead when

Brent Webb Brent Douglas Webb (born 8 November 1980) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a . He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, before moving the Leeds Rhinos and the Catalans Dragons in ...

floated a pass to

Scott Donald Scott William Donald (born 14 February 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played in the National Rugby League for Australian clubs, North Queensland Cowboys, Parramatta Eels ...

to score a try in the corner. Sinfield's conversion from the sideline giving Leeds a 8–4 lead.

Second half

Heavy rain greeted the players upon the resumption. Turner would not return for Melbourne after half time due to concussion.

Clinton Toopi Clinton James Te-Whata Toopi (born 29 February 1980) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international representative , he played his club football in the ...

would then join McGuire on the sidelines through injury for Leeds, with Toopi suffering an arm injury. A biting allegation against Leeds winger Lee Smith was a minor controversy midway through the second half, but despite immediately reporting the incident to the touch judge, Melbourne's

Will Chambers William Chambers (born 26 May 1988 in Brisbane) is an Australian retired rugby league and rugby union, union footballer who last played for the LA Giltinis in Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States. After winning two titles with the Mel ...

refused to file an official complaint at full time. In a battle of attrition, defence won out as the half progressed, with Melbourne unable to find a way through the Leeds line. Chambers came close to a late try in the 78th minute, but his foot found the touch line before he could ground the ball. In the end Sinfield's penalty goal in the 60th minute and drop goal 12 minutes from full time, were the only points in the second half.

References

External links

2008 World Club Challenge at superleague.co.uk2008 World Club Challenge at therfl.co.ukMatch replay at YouTube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Club Challenge

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Leeds Rhinos matches Melbourne Storm matches 2008 in English rugby league 2008 in Australian rugby league 2008 rugby league matches Sports competitions in Leeds