World Club Series

Origin

The World Club Series was created as an expansion to the World Club Challenge competition which has been played sporadiacally since it began unofficially in 1976. Games were played on a somewhat ad-hoc basis throughout the 1980s and 1990s before returning to a one-off match between the League champions in 1998.

Between 1998 and 2014 the World Club Challenge was played as a annual fixture at the beginning of each Rugby League season.

2014: Creation

In September 2014 it was announced that the World Club Challenge would be expanded, with four extra clubs participating in the World Club Series.^[2] The first edition took place between 20 and 22 February 2015 and featured three matches, the first and second essentially being two exhibition games and the final game being for the World Club Challenge match between the two respective premiers as in previous years.^[3] The first World Club Series was won outright by the Australians with St. George Illawarra Dragons and Brisbane Broncos narrowly beating Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors in the first two games to win the series and South Sydney beating St Helens 39-0 in the World Club Challenge, which was the biggest winning margin in the history of the competition.

2015-2016: Possible Further Expansion

In 2016 a possible expansion to 8 teams was suggested. This would see two games being played in Australia and two games being played in the UK. The World Club Challenge would be played alternatively between the UK and Australia each year and a new points system would be introduced to determine the series winners: one point would be awarded to the winners of the first four games and two points to the winners of the World Club Challenge.

This expansion ultimately did not eventuate and it remained a six team format in 2015 and 2016.

2017: Contraction

In 2017, the format was reduced to 4 teams, with the NRL citing tight schedules, distant travel and long seasons as an impediment to their participation in the Series. After the NRL negotiated with the Brisbane Broncos, it was decided that they would represent the NRL in an exhibition match vs Warrington Wolves prior to the usual Challenge game between the Super League Champions Wigan Warriors and Cronulla Sutherland Sharks, maintaining the overall Series concept. 2017 would be Super League's first victory since the series began, with Warrington winning 27-18 against Brisbane,^[4] and Wigan beating Cronulla 22-6.^[5]

Following the reluctance of Australian teams to travel to England for the 2017 tournament there were similar issues with the 2018 tournament. This coupled with, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup being played in Australia at the end of 2017 meant that the preseason for Australian teams was going to be unusually short ahead of the 2018 season and therefore they did not want to make the trip to England for the 2018 series. The Melbourne Storm (2017 NRL Premiers) in particular were reluctant to travel, meaning the series was in danger of cancellation for the first time since the 1990s as it was the Storm that was playing in the World Club Challenge.

In addition and as part of this trip to Australia, Wigan and Hull would also play two exhibition games against South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons respectively. These were separately arranged fixtures and not considered part of the World Club Series.^[6][7]

2018: Return of the World Club Challenge

On 14 November 2017, it was confirmed that Leeds Rhinos would travel to Australia to play Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 16 February 2018, and that the World Club Challenge would return to a one-game format for the first time since 2014.^[6] Therefore there would be no World Club series in 2018, it is yet to be confirmed if the series will return in the future.

Super League

The two teams from Super League that qualify to play in the World Club Series are:

• League Leaders
• Grand Final Winners

If a team wins both Grand Final and League Leaders' Shield then the Grand Final runners up will qualify.

NRL

Qualification for the NRL has varied since the World Club series was first instituted in 2015. While the NRL Premiers always play off for the World club Challenge each year, the teams representing the NRL in the other two games have altered from year to year. Normally, the Grand Final Winners, Runners up and Minor Premiers are given first option to play; however, history has shown that it is either invited teams that make up the numbers or teams that are "willing to travel" who take part.

2015 World Club Series

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Date	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Warrington Wolves	12–18	St George Illawarra Dragons	20 February 2015	Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington	Ben Thaler	13,080
Wigan Warriors	12–14	Brisbane Broncos	21 February 2015	DW Stadium, Wigan	Phil Bentham	20,842
St Helens	0–39	South Sydney Rabbitohs	22 February 2015	Langtree Park, St Helens	Richard Silverwood	12,576

2016 World Club Series

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Date	Venue	Referee	Attendance
St Helens	12–38	Sydney Roosters	19 February 2016	Langtree Park, St Helens	Ben Thaler	14,008
Wigan Warriors	12–42	Brisbane Broncos	20 February 2016	DW Stadium, Wigan	Matt Cecchin	19,103
Leeds Rhinos	4–38	North Queensland Cowboys	21 February 2016	Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds	Richard Silverwood	19,778

2017 World Club Series

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Date	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Warrington Wolves	27–18	Brisbane Broncos	18 February 2017	Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington	Phil Bentham	12,082
Wigan Warriors	22–6	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	19 February 2017	DW Stadium, Wigan	Robert Hicks	21,011

NOTE: No series in 2018, reverted to a single World Club Challenge match

Club statistics

Series games won

Tally	Club	Seasons
2	Brisbane Broncos	2015, 2016
1	St George Illawarra Dragons	2015
1	South Sydney Rabbitohs	2015
1	Sydney Roosters	2016
1	North Queensland Cowboys	2016
1	Warrington Wolves	2017
1	Wigan Warriors	2017

Series games lost

Tally	Club	Seasons
2	St Helens	2015, 2016
2	Wigan Warriors	2015, 2016
1	Warrington Wolves	2015
1	Leeds Rhinos	2016
1	Brisbane Broncos	2017
1	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	2017

Series appearances

Tally	Club	Seasons
3	Wigan Warriors	2015, 2016, 2017
3	Brisbane Broncos	2015, 2016, 2017
2	Warrington Wolves	2015, 2017
2	St Helens	2015, 2016
1	Leeds Rhinos	2016
1	St George Illawarra Dragons	2015
1	South Sydney Rabbitohs	2015
1	North Queensland Cowboys	2016
1	Sydney Roosters	2016
1	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	2017

Series wins

	Country	Series won	Years won	Matches won
1	NRL	2	2015, 2016	6
2	Super League	1	2017	2

Attendance

Most matches refereed

	Matches	Referee	Years
=1	2	Richard Silverwood	2015, 2016
=1	2	Ben Thaler	2015, 2016
=1	2	Phil Bentham	2015, 2017
=2	1	Matt Cecchin	2016
=2	1	Robert Hicks	2017