Please find below a preview chapter from my upcoming book War Of The Worlds: A History of Rugby League's World Club Challenge which I'm hoping to have out in June 2024 to mark 30 years since Wigan's ground-breaking win over Brisbane in 1994.
In this passage, we're going back nearly 35 years to October 1989 and a time when Widnes defeated Australian champions Canberra to sit atop the Rugby League world.
Widnes captain 'King' Kurt Sorenson holds aloft the World Club Challenge trophy following his team's 30-18 win over Canberra Raiders at Old Trafford in October 1989.
1989: A Chemical Reaction
Given the relative success of the 1987 clash between Wigan and Manly, the Rugby League international board decided that from 1989, the World Club Challenge would become an official fixture of the international calendar with Widnes and Canberra Raiders battling it out to become the first recognised World Club Champions.
By 1989, Rugby League was changing. After Wigan’s 1987 triumph and Great Britain’s win over Australia in the third test of the 1988 Ashes series, the British game had seen a renewal of interest. In Australia, the NSWRL had pulled off a major coup to collaborate with legendary pop diva Tina Turner to produce a major advertising campaign that raised eyebrows on both sides of the world. The game had even attempted to expand globally when a crowd of over 18,000 witnessed a friendly between Wigan and Warrington at the County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
For Widnes it would be the pinnacle of the era of the ‘Cup Kings’ as the Cheshire side became one of the dominant forces in the British game. In the eleven previous calendar years leading up to the WCC, the Naughton Park side had claimed the league championship three times as well as notching the same number of Challenge Cups. Under the tutelage of coach Dougie Laughton, The Chemics had gained many admirers for their stylish, attacking brand of rugby as well as flexing their considerable financial muscle to bring some of the most established names in British rugby to the club, not just from other Rugby League clubs. Scottish international full-back Alan Tait had been persuaded to switch codes as had Welsh forward Paul Moriarty while the eyes of the sporting world had fallen on Cheshire in January 1989 when Wales rugby union captain Jonathan Davies became a rugby league player.
It was another, slightly less-heralded union convert who was making most of the headlines for Widnes. Martin Offiah, a native of Hackney in East London, had played a handful of fifteen-a-side games for Rosslyn Park and quickly gained a reputation as a prolific, lightning fast winger. While many predicted Offiah to be a union superstar of the future, a rumoured England call-up was not forthcoming for the young winger. While the national team selectors shunned Offiah, many from rugby league had been alerted to him and initially had an admirer in Alex Murphy, then coach of St Helens but saw his interest ended when the Knowsley Road board dismissed the winger as an ‘uncoordinated clown’. St Helens’ loss was to be Widnes’ gain as Laughton swooped to bring Offiah north. The faith was repaid almost immediately as Offiah broke Frank Myler’s club record for most tries scored in a season ran in 42 tries in his debut season as The Chemics won the Championship and Premiership Ttophy at the end of the 1987-88 campaign. For his efforts, Offiah was capped by Great Britain in the summer of 1988 and also took home the Man Of Steel award for good measure.
Rugby Union's loss was the 13-man code's gain as Martin Offiah lit up Rugby League, scoring a bucketload of tries in his first two seasons and winning the coveted Man Of Steel award in 1988.
1988-89 was more of the same for Widnes. Offiah scored an astonishing 60 tries in a season that saw The Chemics win both the Championship and Premiership Trophy for the second year in succession. Only semi-final defeats to Wigan and St Helens in the Lancashire Cup and Challenge Cup respectively prevented Laughton’s men from taking out ‘all four cups’.
Widnes’ opponents in the 1989 World Club Challenge would be Canberra. The club from Australia’s capital city had written history in just their eighth season. Prior to 1989 no club from outside of Sydney had ever won the NSWRL title and no team had ever done it after finishing the weekly rounds outside of the top three. Tim Sheens’ side rewrote the history books by doing the seemingly unthinkable and winning the title from fourth position. It’s an old adage, especially in play-off football that it isn’t how you start but how you finish and Canberra epitomised this after winning their final five regular season matches before downing Cronulla 31-10 in their qualifying play-off. After seeing off Penrith in the semi-final, the Raiders defied the odds and overcame minor premiers South Sydney 32-16 in the preliminary final. In one of (if not the) greatest Australian grand finals of all time, Canberra turned round a 12-2 half-time deficit to edge out Balmain 19-14 thanks to Steve Jackson’s dramatic extra-time try.
Captained by the legendary Mal Meninga, Canberra’s 1989 side struck a perfect balance of youth and experience. As well as Meninga, The Raiders were also able to count on experienced heads such as Gary Belcher (1989’s top try-scorer with seventeen), Kiwi international prop forward Brent Todd and evergreen winger John Ferguson, a Challenge Cup winner in 1985 with Wigan. In addition to the seasoned professionals, Canberra boasted a number of exciting young players, many of whom would become established star Kangaroo players in the forthcoming 1990s such as Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, brothers Kevin and Steve Walters, Glenn Lazarus and 1989 Clive Churchill medal winner Bradley Clyde.
Widnes warmed up for the World Club Challenge by defeating Leigh 34-12 at Hilton Park in the Lancashire Cup. Alan Tait lined up at full-back with Andy Currier (who had played for Balmain against Canberra in the Grand Final) and Offiah on the wings. Jonathan Davies and Darren Wright played in the centres with Tony Myler and David Hulme in the halves. Former Leigh prop Derek Pyke was joined in the front row by imports Joe Grima and Phil McKenzie. The fearsome Kurt Sorenson captained the team from the second row alongside Paul Hulme while Richie Eyres played at loose forward.
Canberra made just one change to the side that had beaten Balmain in the Grand Final with winning try-scorer Steve Jackson promoted from the bench to the front row in place of Brent Todd.
It was Canberra who opened the scoring when Meninga barged over from close ranged to notch the first try of the evening following some clever passing, a smart combination between Gary Belcher and Laurie Daley fed Meninga who crashed through the Widnes defence to touch down. The game appeared to be in danger of escaping The Chemics a short time later when Canberra extended their lead through Chris O’Sullivan’s try. The Raiders shifted the ball from the midfield area out to Meninga who fired a short ball to winger Matthew Wood. After Wood surged forward and evaded the tackle of Darren Wright he fed a simple pass to O’Sullivan who completed the formality of touching the ball down under the posts. Canberra’s passing game appeared to mesmerise Widnes with BBC commentator French likening it to ‘basketball’ and only a forward pass from Bradley Clyde to Daley prevented Canberra extending their lead further.
For all of Canberra’s pressure, it was Widnes who notched the next points to get themselves back into the game thanks to a Paul Hulme try. Prop forward Joe Grima managed to hurdle a tackle and fire an offload to scrum-half David Hulme who offloaded to his younger brother who crossed to reduce Widnes’ arrears. Martin Offiah then got his name on the scoresheet as the tide began to turn in The Chemics’ favour. From the play-the-ball, hooker Phil McKenzie passed to Derek Pyke and then scampered forward to receive a short pass from his fellow front-rower. The former Illawarra hooker then fired a pass into the grateful hands of the onrushing Offiah who grounded in the corner. Jonathan Davies then kicked the conversion to ensure that Widnes were only two points down at the interval as Canberra went into the sheds with a slender 12-10 lead.
In the second half, Widnes displayed the sort of rugby that had earned them the plaudits and the trophies as they went ahead for the first time through a Davies try. While the game wasn’t played in the same spiky atmosphere as Wigan vs Manly two years earlier, Laurie Daley was sin-binned in the second period when he unleashed what could only be described as a ‘clothes-line’ that was more akin to the WWF than Rugby League on Davies as he was about to touch the ball down in the corner, a feat the Welshman did manage to complete. The try was eventually awarded but only after referee Desplas had sent Daley from the field for ten minutes.
Now in the ascendancy, Widnes turned the screw on the Australian premiers and scored again through Offiah. Joe Grima shot a short ball to Andy Currier and the centre, possibly spurred on by being on the losing side against Canberra in the Grand Final, burst forward before shooting the ball out on to the wing to Offiah who evaded and outpaced Gary Belcher to touch down his second try of the evening in the corner in front of the Stretford End. Offiah then went from poacher to provider for Widnes’ fourth try of the evening when he provided a pass for Richie Eyres to weave in and out of the Canberra defence and then turn Steve Walters inside out to add his name to the scoresheet.
Laurie Daley looked to atone for his earlier misdemeanour but as he crossed the line, seemingly to score he knocked the ball on. From the resultant tap back on the 20-metre line, substitute Barry Dowd exploited the tiring Canberra defence and surged forward leaving centre Darren Wright unmarked. Wright, who would play all of his career with Widnes save for brief spells with North Sydney and Doncaster, was able to charge forward unchallenged and touch down under the sticks to put a bow on the result and seal the World Club Challenge for The Chemics, Davies added the extras and even a late consolation try from Walters couldn’t dampen Widnesian spirits. The final score of 30-18 confirmed what had begun to become obvious, Widnes were on top of the world.
The forthcoming years and the dawn of summer rugby put an end to the era of success for Widnes especially amid a number of financial problems, their last appearance in a major final came in 1993 when they were defeated by the dominant Wigan team of the period. While The Chemics, or The Vikings as they are now known, are currently in the backwaters of the second-tier Championship, one thing that will never be taken away from the Widnes trophy cabinet will be their world title, a fitting title for the former ‘Cup Kings’.
Widnes players celebrate with the trophy following their World Club Challenge win. It would be the last hurrah for the heralded 'Cup Kings'.
Thank you for taking the time to read this sample from 'War Of The Worlds: A History Of Rugby League's World Club Challenge'. To stay up to date with developments of the book, please drop me a follow on Twitter/X @DanBarkerGray.
