The 2018 World Club Challenge (also known as the 2018 Downer World Club Challenge[1] was the 26th staging of the World Club Challenge. It took place on 16 February 2018, and featured Super League champions Leeds Rhinos, and NRL winners Melbourne Storm.[2] This was the fourth time the two clubs have met in the World Club Challenge, having previously played each other in 2008, 2010 and 2013. It was the first time since 2014 and only the fourth time since the World Club Challenge began that the game was played in Australia.[3]
In October 2017 it was suggested that the 2018 World Club Series could be scrapped completely based on the top Australian teams' reluctance to travel to the UK for the 2017 series which resulted in the series being scaled back to two games only. In particular the second game of the 2017 series only featured an invited team from the NRL.[5] In addition, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup being played in Australia at the end of 2017, meant that the preseason for Australian teams was going to be unusually short ahead of the 2018 season and therefore they did not want to make the trip to England for the 2018 series. The Melbourne Storm (2017 NRL Premiers) in particular, were reluctant to travel meaning the series was in danger of cancellation for the first time since the 1990s as it is the Storm that was playing in the World Club Challenge.[citation needed]
In June 2017, the Super League announced that the Australian city of Wollongong would host the first ever Super League game outside Europe. Wigan Warriors "hosted" Hull F.C. in the game at WIN Stadium on Saturday, February 10, in which the Warriors prevailed, 24–10.[6] In addition and as part of this trip to Australia, Wigan and Hull would play two exhibition games against South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons respectively. Early media speculation suggested a switch to Melbourne for the World Club Challenge and that these fixtures could form part of the World club Series; however, as these were separately arranged fixtures they were ultimately not considered part of the World Club Series.[7][8]
On 14 November 2017, it was confirmed that Leeds Rhinos would travel to Australia to play Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 16 February 2018, and that the World Club Challenge would return to a single game for the first time since 2014.[7]
