Sporting Bygones: Time again to open up rivalries between Super League’s finest and top NRL clubs in Australia

Gorden Tallis was known as the Raging Bull for good reason; when the abrasive Queenslander got up a head of steam he was regularly unplayable.

Equally so, though, the moniker referred to the red mist that often descended on this belligerent Australian Test second-row during his colourful career.

This image shows the legendary Tallis in action during the ill-conceived 1997 World Club Championship, that competition which made such a mockery of the English game as the gulf in class between the two hemispheres was brutally and embarrassingly exposed.

Here, star-studded Brisbane, with the likes of Darren Lockyer, Wendall Sailor, Alfie Langer and Steve Renouf, ran out convincing 54-10 winners over a hapless Halifax side at Thrum Hall.

It was one of many huge mismatches that British Super League sides endured in a tournament which eventually concluded with a final between Tallis’s triumphant Broncos and – remember these? – Hunter Mariners.

Halifax lost the return leg 76-0 and also suffered miserably in Canberra where they were vanquished 70-6. Even domestic champions St Helens could not escape such acerbic treatment, falling by the same scoreline at Auckland Warriors.

Of course, no one in the British game wants to see such debacles again and it is unsurprising that since this nadir, the method to decide the world club champions has instead been contested over one game between the NRL and Super League Grand Final winners which, also, has always been held in this country.

It has made England’s chances of prospering more likely and, generally, they have succeeded with Super League clubs winning eight of the 13 titles since.

However, following Friday’s confirmation that Leeds Rhinos will face Melbourne Storm in February for the 2013 award, the concept’s future is back on the agenda once more.

Given a working party has been set up to explore the possibility of an extended competition – but perhaps with the top three sides from Super league and the NRL instead of the blanket 22-club approach of 15 years ago – the Headingley showdown could be the last of its kind.

There is a hope the new-look tournament could materialise as early as 2014 with a raft of options available regards venues, including potentially being hosted in Dubai.

But on the back of a hopefully well-received staging of the 2013 World Cup, how exciting would it be to see some of the NRL’s finest talent back here in club colours the following season?

Leeds coach Brian McDermott, who then played for a Bradford Bulls side that would finish the year as Super League champions for the first time, admits he would like to see it reconvened.

“I think the top three is certainly very doable,” he said.

“I reckon there’d be loads of interest in watching that and I’m just trying to think what the arguments might be against it...

“I’ve heard a pundit on television say that he wouldn’t go watch Warrington v Brisbane as they are not Super League and NRL champions.

“But I think your average fan would kick the doors down to go watch a game like that and the top three of Australia against the top three of ours.”

British fans, surely, would embrace the prospect this time around as well as the players.

As for Tallis, in his autobiography published in 2003, he did admit to loving what was his first trip to Britain. Typically, though, it came with a caveat.

He regaled the evening Brisbane humbled Wigan 30-4 at Central Park.

“That night in Wigan was the game when Glenn (Lazarus) broke his ankle,” he wrote.

“It was one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen.

“His ankle turned right around so his foot was sticking out at this weird angle.

“I went in the ambulance with him and the big bloke was in a lot of pain.

“Then when we got to the hospital they stuck him behind a curtain and no one came near him for 90 minutes except for this nurse who stuck this giant needle in his leg.

“I can’t believe he didn’t belt her. It was only when our team doctor arrived after the game that he got any treatment. The lesson to be learnt from that is never get injured in England. Their health system is the same as their cricket team, not up to scratch.”

Well, England’s cricket side have certainly proved him wrong since.

Hopefully the nation’s finest Super League sides will soon get that chance to show their mettle too.