With two matches done and dusted, the Super League is now pinning its hopes on 2014 champions St Helens to overcome NRL premiers South Sydney.
Two narrow losses from two matches have seen the Super League hand over bragging rights to the NRL for another season.
Warrington’s loss to St George-Illawarra was a tight one but if the Wolves could ponder the great ‘what if?’, spare a thought for the Wigan Warriors whose slippery hands couldn’t hold on to the ball to save their lives.
What if, their coach must be asking, we could have just held on to the ball?
What if indeed. And yet the Warriors went deep into extra time against the Brisbane Broncos only to have the match decided by the most nothing of penalties.
So besides passion, commitment and intensity, the World Club Series so far has also had fantastic crowd turnouts as well as offering its fair share of drama.
Remember Wigan’s Anthony Gelling? The man was given his marching orders for attempting – successfully by the way – an illegal charge down of the penalty kick that eventually lost them the match.
For his efforts he was sent from the field and the Wigan fans cheered him until their throats were horse.
English rugby league fans know who the enemy is, just as Australian Queensland fans know who theirs is…
Australia’s Origin series has been built on and forged through the heat of the wounded pride that Queenslanders bring to Australia’s premier series.
The same could be said of the English. Surely Super League athletes must be sick and tired of having to play second fiddle to the wrestle-a-thon that is the NRL. Surely they must feel that the purity of the game they play in the Super League deserves its time in the sun?
The support that the English fans have shown for the series – to say nothing of the players who have put their bodies on the line – tells us that we have the potential for an Origin-like rugby league event on our hands here.
The signs are all there for this series to grow into something special, something very special indeed.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
That's true. But then if people don't believe it is worth doing, let alone possible, then the negatives become more real than the positives and no attempt will ever get made.
The Barry
Roar Guru
You say that quickly Sleiman and it sounds fine. Gap in playing quality? Improve it. Easy. But how? It's very easy to make grand, sweeping statements like that but it's in the detail where problems get 'insurmountable'.
Stephen Martin
Guest
If you think the refereeing favoured the English teams, you must have missed the tackle on Kevin Penny. I suspect Ben Thaler didn't want to miss out on the free trip to the Anzac test by upsetting anyone Dragons' fans in the ARL.
Stephen Martin
Guest
They're on ITV4, which you can find on Freeview and Sky.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Opening up Origin to non-Australians would probably kill off the World Club Series and international league in general. Ye gads, I hope Burgess never, ever plays for NSW or Queensland. Never, ever, ever.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
If holding on to the tail of the NRL helps to raise the profile of the Super League, then I am all for it.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I think the series is already meaningful. I mean, the games were sellouts, all the teams seemed to take it seriously and the fans were nuts over it. At the moment, I'm partial to the idea of the event being an invitational one as it was this year.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Coventry are doing better than Glebe, that's for sure...
Avatar
Roar Guru
I'd love to see the World Club Series turn into a meaningful series just as it is with the State of Origin. Souths were just too good against St Helens and deserve their status as world champions - now it will remain to be seen whether they can successfully defend their premiership. The signs are also promising for the Dragons, whom many think will be wooden spoon contenders in 2015. Same too for the Broncos, who despite the long-term injury to Darius Boyd will be hard to beat as Wayne Bennett returns to the club with whom he won six premierships with. I'd love to see other teams play the series next year for a change. Maybe the Storm and the Roosters should be considered for 2016 I feel.
Muzz
Guest
Robbo will turn him into a SOO player...oh wait
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Australian rugby league commentators (ie, Channel Nine) are terrible. Did you see how pathetically unprofessional Fittle was in his pre-game blabbering for the Wigan v Brisbane match? I'm still in shock at it. I just can't fathom that such a poor commentator is actually getting paid to do whatever it is he is doing.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
He looks raw. But then, talent spotting is not really my forte.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
If union has such a pervasive influence in the UK (or wherever) then that is all the more reason for people like Crowe and Koukash to become involved in the code.
Muzz
Guest
Ball handling wasn't the best however he runs hard, is very quick and is only young.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
It's a great concept. And it doesn't even need to be more than a weekend for it to be successful. Honestly, I have yet to read a single negative that is permanent. Drubbings and whitewashes? Yes, they happen in the NRL too. Gap in playing quality? Okay, improve it then. Not a single one of the so-called problems that critics raise is insurmountable.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Most in the media don't understand anything. Their job is to imagine the negative and so they say it without understanding, really, what it is they are saying. Anyone can prophesise the end of the world....
nerval
Guest
I'm here in the UK right now Simmo. The highlights are not and never have been on at 8.00pm. Sorry.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
He had a rough night...
Andy Sharpe
Roar Guru
''Mighty oaks from little acorns grow'' - this is a good concept and if the nations stick with it, it will grow and become strong - it was never going to be perfect on the first hit up but I think this weekend has given us enough foundations to build on. One thing that hasn't been mentioned in these comments and what these games made me realise what I miss about Rugby League is a good old fashioned Ashes series - in this current climate an Ashes series in the UK, and probably Aus, would be huge.
Thomas
Guest
I just thought it was a great series and is generally good for the game. Not sure why some have widened the debate to talk about Union in the UK as it is not relevant to a debate on the WCC. However, it is worth remembering it is not a level playing field. England is the richest Union in the world and spends more than 20 times what League can invest in promotion, recruitment and marketing and yet League thrives in its strongholds where it is not as dominated by a or Union media. Imagine what League could achieve in the UK with the same level of funds and influence that Union enjoys which is helped enormously by its rich patronage and public school structure.