Alex Murphy believes English whitewash possible in World Club Series
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Version 0 of 1. The rugby league great Alex Murphy wants his old clubs to prove a point by beating their Australian counterparts in this weekend’s World Club Series. The cream of the Super League have a chance to topple three of the biggest names from the NRL in the expanded World Club Challenge. Warrington host St George Illawarra on Friday night and Wigan take on Brisbane Broncos a day later, before St Helens meet South Sydney on Sunday to determine who are the world champions. Murphy, who coached all three English clubs and was a player with St Helens and Warrington, believes the Super League trio can complete a 3-0 whitewash. He said: “Expanding the competition is good for the game. We needed a change. If we want to take the game forward to match rugby union, we have to raise the profile and, if we do well in this series, it will do us the world of good. “Unfortunately, one of the clubs [Brisbane] have brought only 18 players over. I hope they take it very seriously because [the Wigan coach] Shaun Wane always wants to win.” “We’ve got to give them a wake-up call, we’ve got to say to Australia ‘you’re not as good as you thought you were’. They’re not the world champions any more, New Zealand are, and they’re under pressure. Their players are not being churned out as quickly as they used to be and the clubs are now grabbing whatever they can. “This year can be a very important one for rugby league in this country. We have the chance to put a marker down.” |