1989 World Club Challenge
| 1989 World Club Challenge | |||||||||||||
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 Old Trafford hosted the match | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 4 October 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Network Ten  | ||||||||||||
| Commentators | |||||||||||||
The 1989 World Club Challenge (also known as the Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the third ever and first official World Club Challenge match. 1989's NSWRL season premiers, the Canberra Raiders travelled to England to play 1988–89 RFL champions, Widnes.
Background
Widnes
Widnes came into the World Club Challenge having won two straight Stones Bitter League Championships. Coach Doug Laughton's team had won many admirers throughout England for their free-flowing, attacking style of rugby. At this time player poaching from rugby union was at a level not seen in decades, and the Chemics benefited from a board flush with cash and a coach with a keen eye for talent. Three members of their famed back division all came from the amateur code. Alan Tait started in union for Scotland but had grown up around league as his father played for Workington Town in the Borders. Jonathan Davies cited a need to provide for a young family and heavy pressure as Wales five-eighth as his motivation for accepting a then-record £230,000 signing fee. Finally Martin Offiah used his electric pace and athleticism to score 100 tries in 76 matches for Widnes to become the game’s hottest property. Combining with home-grown talents like Andy Currier, the Hulme brothers and Tony Myler, the Chemics scored an eye-popping 726 points in the 1988-89 league, winning the title over Wigan by three points.[citation needed]
Canberra Raiders
The 1989 NSWRL season was the 8th in the history of Australian club the Canberra Raiders. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by Australian international centre Mal Meninga, the Raiders finished the minor rounds in 4th spot. They then won through to their second ever Grand Final (after playing in the 1987 game) where they made history by not only being the first team to win the premiership from 4th spot or lower after defeating Balmain in the Grand Final, but also by becoming the first non-Sydney team to win the premiership in its history dating back to 1908.[citation needed] Canberra Raiders would go on to win back to back Premierships in 1990.
Teams
         Widnes
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    Canberra Raiders
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Details
Wednesday 4 October
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Widnes 
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30 – 18 |  Canberra Raiders
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| Tries: Darren Wright Goals: Jonathan Davies (3) |
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Tries: Mal Meninga Chris O'Sullivan Steve Walters Goals: Matthew Wood (2) Chris O'Sullivan (1) |
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 30,786 Referee: Francois Desplas  Player of the Match: David Hulme |
The match was played on Wednesday, 4 October at Old Trafford, Manchester. A crowd of 30,786[2] saw an all-action game of two halves, with a Mal Meninga-inspired Canberra opening up a 12-0 lead by playing a brand of rugby that BBC commentator Ray French described as "like basketball". However Widnes' offload game would bring them back into the match, with tries by Offiah and Paul Hulme both coming as a result of good late passes to make it 12-10 at the interval. The match turned in the second half when Jonathan Davies was clothes-lined across the chin by Laurie Daley in the act of scoring a try: Daley could call himself lucky to only be given a sin-bin by the French referee. Widnes would consolidate the man-advantage by crossing the Stretford End try-line twice courtesy of Offiah and Eyres, adding a Darren Wright try as insurance while Steve Walters would got a valedictory four-pointer for the Australians.[3] David Hulme was named man-of-the-match.
References
- ^ 1989 WCC - Widnes vs Canberra
- ^ HighBeam[dead link]
- Yorkshire Post. UK: Johnston Press Digital Publishing. 1 February 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2010.