Following the Saints' historic World Club Challenge victory over Penrith Panthers, the first win in the competition in Australia of the Super League era, Sky Sports hosted a special programme to reflect on the achievement.
Head Coach Paul Wellens, Captain James Roby, and the Player of the Match from the World Club Challenge Jack Welsby joined the Sky Sports team for the special broadcast and to celebrate Saints’ third World Title.
Wellens began the show by discussing with host Brian Carney and former teammate Jon Wilkin how proud he, the players, the supporters, and the whole Club are at being crowned THE best club side in world rugby league.
During his chat with Carney and Wilkin, the boss revealed two points he spoke to his players about ahead of the game. The first was ‘changing opinions’ after being written off in the fixture by many Down Under and doing the sport on our side of the world proud. The second referring to our 150th year in 2023, and how over 1,200 people have played for our club and in that time we had players who went to war and sadly never came home and got to play for St Helens again. The passionate point was driven home by Wellens in saying if those players could be back and have just one game in our history, the World Club Challenge might just be the one they choose.
🗣️ “Rugby league on this side of the world has been looked down on for too long”
After winning the World Club Series, St Helens head coach Paul Wellens admits changing the perception of English rugby league acted as a motivation for their triumph 💪 pic.twitter.com/ZVk3myVJkf
— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) February 23, 2023
James Roby joined Terry O’Connor and Barrie McDermott and spoke about the importance of the win in terms of British rugby league and what it meant winning his second World Club title sixteen years after his first. The Skip then gave an incredible bit of insight at the Sky Sports touchscreen with Jon Wells, discussing intricacies of the hooker’s game during the World Club Challenge.
Go into the mind of a 🐐 at the touchscreen and THAT try… pic.twitter.com/f7oWoVN7WN
— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) February 23, 2023
After scoring a try and setting up the other, one of Super League’s brightest talents Jack Welsby chatted with Jenna Brooks about the achievement, shaking off that underdog tag in Australia, and the drama of Golden Point which saw Lewis Dodd slot over the vital winning point.
Paul Wellens closed out the programme thanking former Saints players who came into the camp in Australia and just further demonstrating just how much it means to those who have played for our historic club.
The full Sky Sports Special programme is available on demand for fans with Sky Sports, simply search for ‘WCC St Helens Special’ and download/stream.
