Rugby league’s history, tradition and future will be on display in February courtesy of the 2015 World Club Series.

Some of the code’s oldest, professional and most successful clubs will come together in a series of exhibition matches which will culminate in a game featuring the champions of the two existing professional leagues in the world.

St Helens and the South Sydney Rabbitohs will play each other in a bid to determine the professional world’s club champion. The two teams represent not only modern professionalism but also the game’s history and traditions.

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Founded in 1873 and 1908, respectively, St Helens and Souths are both foundation clubs in world rugby league. In 1895, St Helens broke away to help form the new code in the UK while the Rabbitohs did so in Australia in 1908.

St Helens have 21 grand final appearances and 13 victories to their name. They also competed in the first Challenge Cup final in 1896-97, winning that title 12 times while Souths have won 21 premiership titles from 33 attempts.

Despite having the history of the sport at their fingertips, it seems that the World Club Series will be the first time that these two giants of rugby league will have faced each other.

And what of the exhibition matches?

The first match will see the historical Warrington Wolves, founded in 1879, up against the first professional joint-venture rugby league club, the St George-Illawarra Dragons, founded in 1998.

The Wolves, boasting the scalp of a touring Australian side in 1908, are a triple premiership and eight-time Challenge Cup winner. Consistent finalists over the last five years, they are the only club to have played in every top flight season in the UK.



Contrast this with the Dragons, who contested their first grand final in the first year of their existence and then won their first title just over a decade later in 2010.

The second match will see the Wigan Warriors, founded in 1872, facing the Brisbane Broncos, who were established in 1987.

The Wigan Warriors, with 20 premiership titles from 35 attempts and 19 Challenge Cups from 30 attempts, are arguably the world’s most successful professional rugby league club. Australia’s most professional and successful modern day club, the Brisbane Broncos, have yet to taste defeat in the six grand finals they have contested.

These two powerhouses have already met twice before with each club securing a victory apiece.

The World Club Series ought to be seen as the basis for the potential future of the sport of rugby league. As the world gets smaller, the horizons of league will continue to expand.

Here’s to a most successful series.