Dave Craven: Now is the time for Australians to embrace truly global concept

Laughable, you may think, but if some of the sport’s leading power-brokers get their way it could soon become reality.

There is also scope to have a full weekend’s feast of top-class rugby league on these very shores.

Before anyone says anything, I’m not just talking about a madcap scheme for Magic Weekend’s latest incarnation.

This would be three nights of genuine high-octane, elite action, from start to finish not, with a demoralising dud between London and Catalan just thrown in because... well, it has to be.

The prospect of the three finest sides in the NRL taking on Super League’s leading trio has been discussed for some time now as a way of extending the annual one-off World Club Challenge fixture between the two hemispheres’ champions into a more enveloping competition.

Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors perhaps taking on Melbourne, Canterbury and Brisbane Broncos.

There is plenty of work still to be done but if Friday night’s epic contest between Leeds and Melbourne proved anything it was that this concept has the potential to be something truly great.

I would go as far as saying it would be a travesty if it did not, at last, materialise.

For that to happen, though, the Australians have to fully embrace it and the nagging concern is that they simply will not.

In essence, they probably feel they do not need to. Their game is already, comparatively speaking, so vibrant; a new five-year broadcasting deal will net the NRL an astonishing $1.025bn alone and they are expected to double that in revenue during the same period.

Their attitude could be ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and many clubs will see the annual World Club Challenge as nothing more than a glitzy pre-season friendly.

The Australians have long been too insular when it comes to their rugby league, highlighted by their lack of attention to the international game in recent times.

But it is a dangerous attitude to adopt; most other sports have an international club element with football’s Champions League and rugby union’s Heiniken Cup opening them up to Europe while – more pertinently for the Australians – the American NFL and NBA (basketball) have brought their fixtures to London with some reward.

Melbourne, to their credit, are big supporters of the World Club Challenge and it showed with the manner of their performance against Leeds as they became the first Australian club to win it three times.

Seeing their regal captain Cameron Smith signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans and the trophy so long after the final hooter at Headingley was just another example of the generous way they have again conducted themselves during their 10-day visit.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy – who saw his side prevail 18-14 – openly revealed his love for the concept and it is hoped he can use his influence to persuade others in the NRL that an extended format would be good for all.

As for the action itself, right from the opening salvos, it quickly emerged that this was a going to be a game of such high intensity rarely seen in Super League.

The domestic competition hopes to produce such quality encounters on a weekly basis but it is still so far away from being able to do that.

It was another thumping night at Headingley, and a reminder of how electric the atmosphere can be at that old ground when it is full to its 20,000 capacity.

The result aside, of course, it was a perfect advert for the game – fast, skilful, absorbing, nerve-shredding and brutal all in one go.

Jamie Peacock, the veteran Leeds prop who, as so often is the case in these grand occasions, produced such an immense performance, may not get to see the World Club Challenge flourish as hoped before he retires. But, after extending his record to seven appearances in this fixture, he said: “This is a great concept and I certainly think it deserves a three-game series over here.

“We’ve given it some credibility. It will be difficult over there – it’s a different challenge for whoever does that – but I think it would be magnificent.

“Hopefully, Australia will do it. They need to stop being so insular and I think that’s coming across with the vibes we’re getting, they realise there’s more than just their competition.”

England has held the last 13 finals, Brisbane being the last Australia club to act as hosts when they lost at home to Wigan in 1994.

Hopefully, that will all change soon and it has to; the other worry is that, with the NRL so awash with cash, Super League’s finest players may have long departed Down Under by the time 2016 comes around, weakening its product and offering more excuses for the doubtful Australians not to invest in such a concept. The time to nail this down is now.