Variety of formats settles down to give England the edge

In theory, an annual fixture between the Australian champions and their English counterparts should be a fine showpiece but its history has seen plenty of problems.

The first World Club Championship/Challenge match took place between Eastern Suburbs – now Sydney Roosters – and St Helens at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1976.

Easts ran out 25-2 victors but the contest was given little official status and it appeared like it might be consigned to history as merely a random one-off experience.

However, more than a decade later, the idea was resurrected when Wigan edged past Manly 8-2 at Central Park for the re-styled World Club Challenge.

That 1987 contest, in front of nearly 37,000 supporters, proved an absorbing tussle and an example of what the fixture could potentially produce.

It also gained some notoriety with Manly's Ronnie Gibbs – the physical second-rower later affectionately known as 'Rambo' during his time with Castleford – becoming the first (and last) player to be sent-off in such a meeting for elbowing Great Britain's Joe Lydon.

The World Club Challenge was given full International Board recognition in 1989 and was played at irregular intervals up until 1994 between the British champions and Australia's Grand Final winners.

The Australian Super League war which broke out in 1995 meant there was a three-year break before the competition re-formed as a vast tournament incorporating 22 clubs from both sides of the hemisphere.

However, the1997 World Club Championship which proved deeply embarrassing for the majority of English clubs, who were shown to be far behind their Australian rivals in terms of performance and professionalism.

When it was resurrected in 2000, the World Club Challenge reverted to its most popular form of seeing the Australian and English premiers directly facing off.

All have since been played in England, something the NRL clubs largely blame for their disappointing run of just three wins in the subsequent 10 contests.

The World Club Challenge is also generally played before the NRL sides start their new season, something which has affected their fluency while, inevitably, due to that timing, both clubs see players depart from squads that actually won Grand Finals.

With new players recruited it brings further into question whether the competition delivers a fair outcome of which is the best club side in the world.