2008 World Club Challenge
The 2008 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested between Super League XII champions, the Leeds Rhinos and National Rugby League season 2007 premiers, the Melbourne Storm. For the fifth consecutive year the English home team defeated their Australian counterparts.
| 2008 World Club Challenge | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 29 February 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Elland Road | ||||||||||||
| Location | Leeds, United Kingdom | ||||||||||||
Kevin Sinfield  | |||||||||||||
| Referees | Ashley Klein | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 33,204 | ||||||||||||
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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 team Halifax.[1]
Teams
| Leeds Rhinos | Position | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Webb | Fullback | Billy Slater |
| Lee Smith | Winger | Steve Turner |
| Clinton Toopi | Centre | Will Chambers |
| Keith Senior | Centre | Israel Folau |
| Scott Donald | Winger | Anthony Quinn |
| Danny McGuire | Stand Off / Five-eighth | Matt Geyer |
| Rob Burrow | Scrum Half / Halfback | Cooper Cronk (c) |
| Kylie Leuluai | Prop | Jeff Lima |
| Matt Diskin | Hooker | Jeremy Smith |
| Jamie Peacock | Prop | Brett White |
| Jamie Jones-Buchanan | 2nd Row | Antonio Kaufusi |
| Gareth Ellis | 2nd Row | Ryan Hoffman |
| Kevin Sinfield (c) | Loose Forward / Lock | Dallas Johnson |
| Ali Lauitiiti | Interchange | Russell Aitken |
| Carl Ablett | Interchange | Adam Blair |
| Nick Scruton | Interchange | Sika Manu |
| Ryan Bailey | Interchange | Sam Tagataese |
| Brian McClennan | Coach | Craig Bellamy |
Match details
The match was played in wintry conditions on Friday evening, 29 February, four rounds into the 2008 Super League competition and one week before the start of NRL season 2008.
33,204 spectators turned out at Elland Road, 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 kicking of Kevin Sinfield. The win meant the English champions side defeated their Australian counterparts for the fifth consecutive year. Many experts blamed the result happened due to Melbourne Storm's loss of many key players which were: Cameron Smith (Captain, Hooker, Australian Test Player), Greg Inglis (Five-Eighth/Centre, Australian Test Player), Matt King (Centre/Wing, Australian Test Player), Ben Cross (Prop, State of Origin NSW Player) and Michael Crocker (Second-row Australian Test Player)
29 February 2008 20:00 UTC+0 |
| Leeds Rhinos |
11 – 4 |  Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Scott Donald 38' Goals: Kevin Sinfield (3) Field Goals: Kevin Sinfield |
Report | Tries: Ryan Hoffman 16' Goals: |
See also
References
- "Quins to warm up Storm". Sky Sports. 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2009.