It’ll be the very first time the difficulty has actually been played considering that early 2020 due to Covid-caused travel constraints.
St Helens, who lost to the Roosters’ in the last World Club Challenge, are no complete strangers to success.
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They’ve won the last 4 Super League grand finals, making this video game a real clash of Australia and England’s most dominant clubs from the last couple of years.
St Helens have actually already had a taste of the NRL requirement, having actually beaten the Dragons 30-18 in the very first week of the Pre-season Challenge — which they’re likewise contending in while in Australia.
But they understand the Panthers are a various monster, with previous NRL star Curtis Sironen stating them “the benchmark of the rugby league world”.
Sironen played 131 video games over stints with the Wests Tigers and Sea Eagles prior to linking with St Helens in 2022.
He’s been watching on the NRL though.
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“They’ve dominated for the last three years,” Sironen said about the Panthers.
“Playing them in 2020 and 2021, I learnt more about how good they were and how young they were. I’ve been viewing them extremely carefully… They’re simply an impressive club.
“When the Roosters went back-to-back, I didn’t believe we’d see it once again for a while however they’ve simply gone bang. They’ve got this team that’s improving and much better every year.
“They’re the benchmark of the rugby league world.”
There’s a little bit of personal inspiration for Sironen too that will sustain him when he goes out onto Bluebet Stadium.
The 29-year-old said completion to his time at Manly was “really disappointing” due to the fact that he was “bitten by the injury bug” and “couldn’t get healthy enough to contribute.”
He just played 6 NRL video games in his last year however recuperated in his launching season with St Helens, playing 24 video games — the most he’s ever played in a year — without any significant injury problems.
Sironen said “never say never” when inquired about an NRL return however restated that he still has another year to go on his handle St Helens.
That doesn’t indicate he can’t utilize this video game to advise NRL clubs — and fans — of what he can provide.
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“There is that little bit of motivation because when you’re out of sight you’re out of mind in our game. If you come back in and play well people say ‘oh that’s right’,” he said.
And when it comes to a group, Sironen thinks it’s a “massive opportunity” to “get a gauge on where we’re really are”.
But it’s likewise an opportunity to silence the Super League’s critics who state the requirement of the competitors is worlds behind the NRL.
“We’ll play against the Aussies’ best and show everyone what sort of players are over in England,” he said.
“Hopefully with us being the champs of England we can come and reveal everybody in Australia that it is a dominant league.
“That’s what we’re aiming to do — to prove a few of the Aussie people wrong.”
St Helens prop and English global Matty Lees is delighted for the chance to lastly “prove to everybody how good of a team we are.”
“We’re looking to close that gap and to show Australia that we can actually match with them,” he said.
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Former Manly and Eels hooker Joey Lussick — who is now playing off the bench for St Helens — understands Penrith are the “red-hot favourites,” however he thinks his group has “earnt the right” to be still remain in the discussion.
A huge reason that the Panthers are favourites is due to the fact that super star playmaker Nathan Cleary has actually been called to play.
Sironen singled out the New South Wales and Australian halfback as “the head of the snake” that positions the greatest danger to St Helens.
“They’ve got strike all over the park but I think their halves pairing (of Cleary and Jarome Luai), the amount of games they’ve played together now, you see how dominant they are whether it be for NSW or Penrith… I think that’s where you see the penny drops,” he said.
“Their forward pack is a joke too with (James) Fisher-Harris and guys like that, but Nathan is the head of the snake.”
Lussick is a self-confessed “footy nerd” so has actually been following the Panthers’ success.
“Penrith have been phenomenal, even when they lost to Melbourne (in 2020) they were still great,” he said.
“A group of them have actually been building considering that SG Ball and under 20s, they’ve been the group to beat — they’ve been unstoppable in some method.
“In their final against Souths (last season) they were down 12-nil so just their ability to stay calm. It doesn’t matter what type of game it is, whether it’s a trial or a grand final, they have an ability to play when it counts and stay in the game.”
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Aside from Cleary, there’s another huge difficulty St Helens will deal with — the 39-degree-heat in Penrith.
The team got here in Australia a number of weeks back and have actually settled in at Manly. But the environment it’s a shocking distinction to the minus 4 temperature level they were residing in back home.
That’s not actually a problem for Sironen and Lussick, however for the English gamers like Lees it’s a shock to the system.
“It’s a massive change,” Lees said.
“It’s going to be tough out there being a middle and playing big minutes.”
