World Club Challenge discussion

[Daniel Dragons]

Wayne looks very young and hip wearing his hat on his hood! lol

 

[Goldthorpe]

Jamie Soward - 'Yeah it's good to be back just like putting on your favourite trackies'

 

[saint-colesy]

Put some pics up on Facebook for those who have me on there. I'd put them here but I've only got my phone

 

[WireMan]

It appears the referee will be Thierry Alibert. Hopefully Le Gaz can translate

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/feb/21/wigan-st-george-illawarra-world-club-challenge

He is a really bad ref. Expect many occasions of head scratching and wondering what is going on.

 

[dangerousdave]

Presuming frenchy refs in the superleague?

 

[WireMan]

Presuming frenchy refs in the superleague?

Yeah, he is part of the European expansion thing we got going on.

He is the best French ref so he is in.

 

[STG-MACCA]

I am in transit, 15 hours down only 8 to go ahhhhhhh!

Abu Dhabi airport is not much. Had higher expectations.

 

[Southernsaint]

I am in transit, 15 hours down only 8 to go ahhhhhhh!

Abu Dhabi airport is not much. Had higher expectations.

There are two sections to the airport, you must be in the old part!!

 

[Godz Illa]

AMOS OUT TO SINK OLD CLUB

Amos Roberts was delighted to see his famous old club St George Illawarra end their trophy drought in October, but he will be doing his best to ensure they do not add to their silverware this weekend.
Wigan's 30-year-old Australian winger has fond memories of his time with the Dragons, his first professional club, where he scored 29 tries in 65 appearances before moving on to Penrith and Sydney Roosters and arriving in England just over two years ago.
When the Dragons clashed with the Roosters in the 2010 NRL Grand Final, Roberts sat on the fence but he will be firmly in the Wigan camp in Sunday's World Club Challenge at the DW Stadium.
"It was kind of hard because I've got great ties with both clubs and unfortunately there could only be one winner," he said.
"It was nice seeing the Dragons win because they hadn't won in a long, long time. They always had great teams but only got so far so it was great for them.
"They deserved it too because they were probably the most consistent team all year."
Roberts is in his third season in England and hoping to make up for lost time after missing much of the Warriors' successful Super League campaign in 2010 with a knee injury.
He began in sensational form, scoring 12 tries in his first 10 games, but was then in and out of the side as he struggled to overcome the injury and even picking up a Super League ring did not fully compensate him for that disappointment.
"I had a great start to the season, then the second half was frustrating," he recalled. "I couldn't rid of the injury.
"It was pretty tough watching the boys from the sideline. It was great seeing the boys get the accolades they deserved but for me personally it kind of hurt a bit.
"I got a ring, which was kind of nice, but it would have felt better if I had been amongst it all."
Roberts made his seasonal debut against Bradford on Sunday after sitting out the opening game due to the birth of his son and, after marking his comeback with a brace of tries, is eagerly anticipating Sunday's mouth-watering duel with Wayne Bennett's team.
"It's two of the biggest teams in rugby league coming head to head, it's going to be a great spectacle," said Roberts, who is looking forward to renewing some old friendships.
"They have one of the greatest coaches of all time in Wayne Bennett and they're a great team. They don't give much away and work really hard for each other.
"I played with them for three years and half the team is still there. I used to play outside Mark Gasnier, Benny Hornby was the full-back and Matty Cooper was the centre with Gaz (Gasnier).
"Dean Young and Benny Creagh were coming through back then and I played with Jamie Soward at the Roosters."
Meanwhile, Roberts' Wigan team-mate Brett Finch, a two-time winner of world club titles with Melbourne a year ago and Sydney Roosters in 2003, is playing down the weather factor.
The Dragons have had to contend with heatwave conditions in their preparations Down Under but Finch, who will miss the game with a neck injury, believes they will have little trouble dealing with the depths of an English winter.
"Certainly coming over from Australia to a different climate and different conditions is tough but the Dragons players will handle it," he said.
"Getting a win is a great achievement and something the Australians take very seriously.
"It's also very important to the English clubs and certainly for Wigan.
"Wigan have a great history in the competition, having defeated Brisbane and also Manly in the past, and the players are all looking forward to adding to that when they play St George."

http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyle...E=rleague/11/02/22/RUGBYL_Column.html&BID=480

 

[Southernsaint]

My defining memory of Famous Amos was of him attempting a conversion at WIN before the video ref had awarded the try, missing the attempt, only to have to take it again and make it...

Still, I think of Roberts more as an Easts player than a Saints player. If we are getting ex-Saints players thoughts on the WCC what does Chris Nero think??

 

[STG-MACCA]

Made it into Manchester this morning. Raining and cold hahaha but it's all good, my traveling companion an I just walked about town a little and he is only in shorts and a polo, very funny seeing the looks we getting.

Sunday night will be colder I reckon hahaha

 

[Dragon]

So jealous, have fun guys

 

[mattmanche5ter]

Made it into Manchester this morning. Raining and cold hahaha but it's all good, my traveling companion an I just walked about town a little and he is only in shorts and a polo, very funny seeing the looks we getting.

Sunday night will be colder I reckon hahaha

Are you planning on catching any other games whilst your here ?

 

[The Clan]

Made it into Manchester this morning. Raining and cold hahaha but it's all good, my traveling companion an I just walked about town a little and he is only in shorts and a polo, very funny seeing the looks we getting.

Sunday night will be colder I reckon hahaha

Don't know why you will have got any funny looks, it's positively summery compared with a few weeks ago when we hit hit -20 on a few occasions.

Hope you all enjoy your experience in the UK, get to a couple of SL games if you can and try to see a premiership game too, the atmosphere at both will be something else!

I think it will be a hard fought game on Sunday night but Wigan will be too strong for the Sts of Australia. One fact to take not of is that in the probable Wigan line up there will be 9 or 10 Wigan born & bred lads which is a remarkable feat.

 

[saintsam]

welcome to the UK guys and gals. Seventeen of us St Helens fans living in Warrington will be going to cheer you guys on several wearing St George jerseys. Good Luck! Oh when the saints!!!

 

[Godz Illa]

One fact to take not of is that in the probable Wigan line up there will be 9 or 10 Wigan born & bred lads which is a remarkable feat.

The Dragons have 9 or 10 born and bred in the St George/Illawarra districts. Kinda nice that both clubs are truly representative of their region.


ps. Ryan Sofftman bringing some hate to the equation. Spice it up


http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...agons-ready-for-stormy-reception/2085431.aspx

Dragons ready for Stormy reception


BY STEVE MASCORD
24 Feb, 2011 04:00 AM

ST George Illawarra are bracing themselves for the bitter Dragons-Melbourne feud to permeate this weekend's World Club Challenge.
Wigan are coached by former Storm assistant Michael Maguire and will be spearheaded by long-time Melburnian Ryan Hoffman while Jeff Lima (suspension) and Brett Finch (neck injury) watch from the DW Stadium stands.
And after the Storm were stripped of two premierships and denied the opportunity to compete with the Dragons in last year's finals, Hoffman admits he has a point to prove.
"If you asked anyone in Melbourne, if they had the chance to play against the Dragons, they'd take it. They'd take it 100 times over. I'm no different," he said.
The rivalry, which dates back to the 1999 grand final, has seen Anthony Mundine describe the Dragons as true premiers in a year-2000 newspaper column before the Storm humiliated the joint venture 70-10, then-Dragons coach Nathan Brown predict an "eye-for-an-eye bloodbath" in 2008, Jamie Soward labelled Greg Inglis' "speed hump" in 2009, Jason Ryles sent off, Jason Nightingale accused of head-butting, and more.
"There's definitely a Melbourne feel there," Dragons back-rower Ben Creagh said in London, in reference to Sunday's rivals.
Lima - who was banned over two "chicken wing" tackles in Cardiff a fortnight ago - predicted Dragons would "stick to the same plan of grinding, trying to grind teams off the park" and the way to combat it was to "serve them the same as what they're serving us. Do the same thing as what they're doing, for as long as you can."
Maguire added: "What's coming off Jeff and Hoffy is going to rub off on the rest of the boys - the passion that's going into this game. "There was always a bit of extra feeling when we played St George. I think you've always got certain teams that you battle against and St George was definitely one of them in my time at Melbourne. It was always a big clash. It's boiled over from years of passion.
"[But] there's enough rivalry with Wigan playing Australian teams, going right back to Manly [in 1987]."

 

[Godz Illa]

Flossy Nightingale wants to complete his collection

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ming-to-add-to-trophy-set-20110224-1b61l.html

Nightingale aiming to add to trophy set

LONDON: St George Illawarra winger Jason Nightingale admits he will be fast running out of honours to achieve in rugby league if the Dragons defeat Wigan in Sunday night's World Club Challenge (WCC).
The 24-year-old Kiwi has enjoyed a fairytale run in recent months.
He scored two tries in his NRL club's drought-breaking 32-8 grand final win over the Sydney Roosters in Sydney in October.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Then a month later, he was in the thick of the action in New Zealand's last-gasp 16-12 victory over Australia in November's Four Nations final at Suncorp Stadium.
With the Kiwis trailing with ten minutes to play in the match, he scored off a grubber before breaking down the right side in the dying moments and hurling a pass back inside that led to the match-winning try.
The hard-working winger said the past few months had been a blur.
"It is probably not something that I thought could happen," he said following Wednesday's training session on a cold, miserable winter's day in west London.
"It has gone very quickly, I remember back in September heading into the finals weeks. It feels like it was yesterday.
"It was a pretty hectic few months, it was good just getting back into training and that was when you really come back to earth.
"You get there and you are still doing the same fitness as you were the year before and that is probably the thing that has helped me come back down to earth."
As for what it would mean to add the World Club Challenge title to his growing list of achievements, he said: "There is probably not too many more to collect.
"But this one is one I am pretty excited about.
"You only get the opportunity if you win the (NRL) competition and there is something that is pretty special about it.
"I hope to get the full set. I have been enjoying the ride lately."
The Dragons have another session at the London Wasps' training ground on Thursday before heading north for a light training run on Saturday in Salford in preparation for Sunday's clash at the DW Stadium.
AAP

 

[mattmanche5ter]

rumour doing the rounds this morning is that wayne bennett as returned home due to family reasons.Hope it's not true and everythings ok.

 

[Whos Ya Daddy]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/24/3147504.htm?site=sydney

Bennett rushes home due to family illness

Updated February 24, 2011 18:02:00


Dragons coach Wayne Bennett will fly home from the UK to be with his sick mother-in-law. (AAP Image: Sergio Dionisio)
Map: Wollongong 2500

St George Illawarra's bid for world club rugby league supremacy has been rocked by the sudden departure of super-coach Wayne Bennett because of family illness.

Bennett flew out from the NRL premiers' camp in England, returning home to be with his gravely ill mother-in-law, and he is set to miss his team's World Club Challenge clash with Super League champions Wigan on Sunday (Monday AEDT).

The Dragons supported their mentor's decision and expressed confidence in their ability to get the job done without the man who led them to their first premiership in 31 years.

Bennett's assistant Steve Price has taken over the team reins for the remainder of the WCC campaign.

"It is important that I am with my family at this difficult time," said Bennett in a club statement on Thursday.

"I am happy with the team's preparation... and am confident they will put in a quality performance."

Dragons captain Ben Hornby put a brave face on the loss of Bennett for the showpiece match at Wigan's DW Stadium.

"Naturally we would all like to have Wayne with us on Sunday however we understand," Hornby said.

"We are confident with our preparation."

Bennett's stature in the game ensured he was the focus of attention even before his departure for his family emergency.

Speculation is strong that he will return next year to the Brisbane team he led to six premierships and it intensified following this week's sacking of Broncos coach Ivan Henjak.

The talk about his future has caught the attention of Dragons off-contract full-back Darius Boyd, who reiterated that Bennett's next move would be a consideration when he decides what club he plays for in 2012.

Boyd, last year's Dally M runner-up, said heading back to Queensland remained an attractive proposition, although he is enjoying his Dragons stint.

"Wayne has been such a big part of my career both on and off the field," the former Bronco said.

"I am not too sure, I have not really thought about it.

"I guess I owe him a lot.

"He has been great to me and I have to weigh up and see what happens when it gets closer."

Boyd was cut by the Broncos following the 2008 season because of salary cap pressures - eventually following Bennett to the Dragons.

The Gold Coast product has blossomed into one of the NRL's finest players and admitted that heading home appealed to him.

"I grew up there until I was 21 and my family is there on the Gold Coast, so I definitely want to eventually go home but I am not too sure when that will be," he said.

"This is my third year at the Dragons and I have really enjoyed it.

"So I just have to wait and see what happens."

Boyd said he was unable to remember his appearance at the 2007 World Club Challenge for the Broncos despite scoring a try in the 18-14 loss to St Helens at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.

But he said the Dragons certainly meant business in their clash against another famous red and white side.

"It is a long way to come to lose, being World Club Challenge champions is something that no one has done here," he said.

-AAP

 

[St. Linnane]

Currently on the train from London to Manchester. Can't wait to see how the Kop do it tonight.