They are undoubtably the best Rugby League team in the world, and with a brilliant season behind them where they won more games in one season than any other club in the history of the Australian game ever has, the Storm should take a nice long off season and look to become the first team to win back to back titles in 15 years.
The World Club Challenge is disruptive and not worth the effort. Its played before NRL teams even start their trial games. In fact the World Club Challenge is the first Rugby League game played by an Australian team at ANY level of the entire year!
Just as clubs should be looking to gear up for trial games, the Storm will be asked to shut everything down and head out of the Australian summer and get on a plane for over 24 hours to arrive in the English winter.
They will be given little over a week to prepare for a game at a “neutral venue”, which means it will be played at most a half hour bus ride from the Super League Champions home ground.
The Storm will end up playing an opponent who has finished their pre season and who may have even played a few games of the season proper.
At the end of the day, this exhibition game will be just a nothing win, or a loss that see’s a lot of outrageous bragging from the opposition, it completely destroys their preperation for their title defense and then they have to head back home and re-aclimatize and try to get ready for what would then give them the longest playing season of any domestic sporting club in Australia!
Its just not worth the hassle for a trophy that no one outside of a few towns in northern England gives any credibility too.
Sure there has been talk that Melbourne may host the World Club Challenge themselves, but thats wont happen. It never happens.
The Storm are one of the best sides I have ever seen in my life time. They have the chance to build a dynasty and be the best team in the world for a very long time. They should no make it harder for themselves to play for some mickey mouse cup in northern England when it could cost them the greatest prize of all, the 2008 National Rugby League title.
