Pressure mounts on Panthers to make World Club Challenge backflip as Wigan boss urges NRL to take action

Pressure is mounting on Penrith to reverse its decision to brush next year's World Club Challenge, with Wigan boss Kris Radlinski declaring his club will "do whatever it takes" to ensure the game takes place. It comes on top of star Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary saying he would love to play the game as part of the NRL's Magic Round next year.

The NRL champions cited player welfare amid a crowded playing schedule in announcing they would not be in a position to play the WCC, especially with a season-opening trip to Las Vegas to factor in. It was seen as a premature – if not slightly arrogant – call from the Panthers considering their English opponents had not even been decided at that stage.

Wigan's win over Hull KR in last weekend's Super League grand final earned it the right to play in the WCC – and defend its crown after knocking over Penrith earlier this year. The Warriors are also travelling to Vegas for the four-game rugby league extravaganza in early March but are not giving up on the WCC.

"All my conversations with Las Vegas that I had in the months leading up to it, there was a place for the World Club Challenge," Radlinski told BBC Radio. "What’s happened since, with Penrith saying that they don’t want to take part, has come as a real shock and surprise to us, which is unfortunate.

"We’ll travel to Australia, we’ll play in England, we’ll play in America; we’ll do whatever it takes. But you need two people to want to do that and at this moment in time, it’s not there.

"I’ve not been able to have conversations, because obviously we only won it on Saturday night, but this week, I’ll start those conversations to see what can be done. This game in Wigan at the beginning of the year was incredible, and we need to capture that and retain it at all costs."

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Panthers boss not budging on call to forego World Club Challenge

But the Warriors face an uphill battle to convince the Panthers, with club CEO Brian Fletcher reaffirming the four-time premiers' stance. "A lot of our players are busted. It wouldn’t be a spectacle if we played the World Club Challenge with a half a reserve grade side playing," he said.

"They're not robots and the welfare of the player comes before anything. It’s just one of those unfortunate things." Penrith has played in four WCC matches – in 1991, 2004, 2023, 2024 - and lost them all. A Yahoo live poll asking fans whether the Panthers should be forced to play the WCC currently has 53 per cent of fans voting yes.