St Helens will be in 2016's World Club Series and they will play Sydney Roosters on Friday, February 19.

Excuse my ignorance, but how's that happened?

Surely it should be the goons, Leeds & Hudds?

They might be unsure about the support from Huddersfield. If you remember the Blake Solly interview (2015) he mentioned the importance of 3 "full house" stadiums as part of marketing the game.

That would be terribly unfair on Huddersfield. They finished 3rd and deserve to play them. They'd probably make a better fist of it too. I'll never forget the 0-38 tonking they dished out to us in 2003.

Only a matter of time before this is made official.

Make sure you bookmark this thread.

Thread on RedVee mentions clubs have to pay to play. Could be Hudds have turned the invite down?

Quote ="Twentyman"That would be terribly unfair on Huddersfield. They finished 3rd and deserve to play them. They'd probably make a better fist of it too. I'll never forget the 0-38 tonking they dished out to us in 2003.'" I know but this is the RL and they could change the criteria, equal on points with the giants but we had more wins in super league than them, also we put up a much better show in the semi final. The RFL announced that they would determine the third participant if there was a certain scenario on a team winning multiple titles. Saints would have a guarantee of over £340k (say 17000) where the Giants might struggle with £180 k (say 9000). www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/j ... ns-dragons

Quote ="Twentyman"That would be terribly unfair on Huddersfield. They finished 3rd and deserve to play them. They'd probably make a better fist of it too. I'll never forget the 0-38 tonking they dished out to us in 2003.'" I know but this is the RL and they could change the criteria, equal on points with the giants but we had more wins in super league than them, also we put up a much better show in the semi final. The RFL announced that they would determine the third participant if there was a certain scenario on a team winning multiple titles. Saints would have a guarantee of over £340k (say 17000) where the Giants might struggle with £180 k (say 9000). www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/j ... ns-dragons

Hudds may have turned it down, again.

If they have then that shows a lack of ambition to me...surely you'd want to test yourself against the best in the world?

It might just be me, but I don't really like the idea of only getting to play against a Aussie team just because Huddersfield turned them down.

Don't forget it's a business also and if playing the aussies in a nothing match loses money then they should decline it.

The series is poor. It's a nothing game and we fell apart after it last year. I'd rather us not play it.

Cas and Huddersfield turned down the "invite" last season due to having to put a £170K guarantee to the Aussie sides.

I knew there was some form of money guarantee but wasn,t sure how much, the Giants would need 8000 to 10000 fans to break even, think Saints made over 150K profit on the game last year. Johnny Vegas no doubt will offer a couple of his properties in Thatto Heath to accommodate some of the aussie players to cut down club expenditure.

If he gets full Chris Joynt can help out with his Parr empire of houses.

More than likely be Leeds, Wigan and ourselves. Good crowds guaranteed , all multiple championship winning sides, easy sell of tickets.
Love us to host St.George one day!

Wire seem to think it's them getting the third spot.

Wire fans only commenting on what's been reported on NRL Scoop twitter feed earlier today.

Warrington can have the game for me. I'd rather us win a trophy for the honour of playing in the world club series. Taking a hand me down from Huddersfield feels a bit like being handed a Black Forest gateau but finding out Johnny Wellies has licked the spoon.

If all 3 Huddersfield fans turned up they would still make a loss. A big empty stadium would look shocking on TV and it's not an image the game wants to project

www.therhinos.co.uk/news/27583.php Saints confirmed.

www.therhinos.co.uk/news/27583.php Saints confirmed.

:1fpjqbym

They certainly are

I hope we fare better than earlier this year.

The RFL are seeing the club with the right credentials. Its a 40 year anniversary match up between the two teams as well. superleague.co.uk/article/33177/ ... WzsR1lf.99

The RFL are seeing the club with the right credentials. Its a 40 year anniversary match up between the two teams as well. superleague.co.uk/article/33177/ ... WzsR1lf.99

Who is to say it would be poorly supported, plenty of neutrals would come to see the NRL minor premiers.
And another point some teams have to have big stadiums so the RFL can host big games. Even Saints average support would look lost at our place.
And another thing if the Roosters thrash Saints which is very likely, that`s not an image to project.

The neutrals argument is completely null, because it's as applicable at LP as it is Huddersfield. To think 10k+ neutrals will turn to make it look full is ambitious to the point of obtuse.

Regardless of the result (and given Huddersfield record at playoff level, I'd of thought you'd of been cautious of bringing up "well if your stuffed..."icon_wink.gif, it will be a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the same fixture as the very first wcc.

I,m not sure if the Giants would market the game to get 1000's of neutrals it would,t be a cost effective measure due to the £160 000 money guarantee requirement.

The giants ground was built for football ambitions not rugby league ones, it doesn't look good having 6000 to 8000 fans in a 25000 stadium every other week, it wasn't the RFL requirement for such a big stadium so they themselves can use it for one or two games a year. It would be great if the giants fans could average around 15000 fans a week which means opening up all the stands and just close the top sections/tiers.

We would expect a better performance against the Roosters yet still lose the game, last years game against the Rabbitohs was a wake up call for super league, but when you look at the Rabbitohs they had beaten 2 of the top NRL sides either side of our game with scores of 30+. The most important will obviously be Leeds v Cowboys but the concept is a good one so it needs a few more years to become more competitive, its a pity a few teams don,t buy into it for financial reasons instead of ambitions.