Finally the World Club Challenge comes to Australia, and the
hosting Roosters look set to make things very difficult for the Wigan Warriors.
With an extended season that included a run to the finals,
along with World Cup appearances for several players, many of the Roosters
stars have seen little action in the preseason build up, so the Chooks may come
in a little underdone. However, they are armed with all but two of the players
that took the field for their championship victory, so familiarity will be far
from a problem for this side who put on one of the best defensive seasons in history
as well as scoring 52 points more than any other side in 2013.
Wigan are coming to terms with the departure of megastar Sam
Tomkins who has taken his talents to Auckland, attempting to fill his shoes is
former NRL star Matt Bowen who has quickly fallen out of favour with fans
after Wigan got their season underway in
poor form going down 24-8 to Huddersfield. A warm up match against a very
understrength New Zealand Warriors side proved little challenge for the
tourists, but the defending NRL champions are another beast entirely.
Much will depend on the mind-set of the Warriors. Having
started so poorly and then traveling halfway around the world, do they feel
they can compete with the NRL’s best in Australia? Do they believe in
themselves with Tomkins gone? The task of playing this Roosters outfit in
Sydney is daunting for any side.
The bookies are giving Wigan little respect here with a line
of 16.5 for the Chooks first hit out of the year and while they are capable of
covering that, it’s a little too big for me to want to take on for the first
game of the year. Instead the appeal lies with the point total. The English
sides love the physical, straight forward approach, and the Roosters have shown
that for all their attacking exploits, they’re very fond of a good physical arm
wrestle themselves. With little footy under their belts on the year, I’m
expecting the Chooks to try to take the ascendency up front here and grind out
a tough defensive win in a low scoring game coming in under the 44.5 total.
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