Broncos No Chance to Win says Bennett
Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett says his side is at long odds to take the World Club Championship title tonight in England. he NRL champions have been made favourites by the bookmakers to become the first Australian winners for four years and the third in eight years since the annual Challenge was restored to the international calendar.
The Broncos, who were pipped 20-18 by Saints at the Reebok Stadium in 2001, are so determined to gain their revenge that they arrived in the country more than a week ago and played a warm-up match against Celtic Crusaders. St Helens go into their fourth Challenge in some disarray, having lost their last two engage Super League matches and suffered a spate of injuries to key players.
Bennett has been delighted with his team’s preparation but argues that everything is in Saints’ favour. "It’s a tough ask, let’s not kid ourselves," he said. "We come a long way, conditions are totally different and we haven’t played, other than the game last week which wasn’t a great challenge for us. We just went down there and got the job done. "They’ve had two or three games and this is their environment, so it’s not easy to win."
Bennett is able to select 14 members of his Grand Final-winning team and has no fewer than 10 full internationals in his 17-man squad, including two-time Golden Boot winner Darren Lockyer. Saints can boast 15 internationals when at full strength but coach Daniel Anderson has been forced to operate without six of them at various times due to injury and suspension in a disastrous start to the season.
Anderson may be ready to gamble on the fitness of Keiron Cunningham and, possibly even Paul Sculthorpe, while Australian loose forward Jason Hooper is likely to risk his suspect shoulder. The 29-year-old Hooper is booked into hospital for major surgery on Saturday, after which he will be sidelined for at least six months. Anderson appreciates that last year’s treble winners have their backs to the wall but he expects them to rise to the occasion.
"The Broncos are fresh but they’re probably not match-hardened, whereas we’re match-hardened but we’ve picked up injuries," he said. "They’re a very talented team as well as being very athletic and they’ve got the world’s best player. I certainly wouldn’t bet against them retaining their title this year. "Most of our players recognise it’s an opportunity to measure themselves, an opportunity to play against a different style of player and a different style of team, and it’s one I’m sure they will relish."
St Helens v Brisbane Broncos, Friday 23rd February, kick-off 8pm GMT
St Helens 18-man squad: Paul Wellens, Ade Gardner, Matt Gidley, Willie Talau, Francis Meli, Leon Pryce, Sean Long, Nick Fozzard, Keiron Cunningham, Jason Cayless, Mike Bennett, Lee Gilmour, Jon Wilkin, James Roby, James Graham, Bryn Hargreaves, Scott Moore, Jason Hooper.
Brisbane Broncos: Karmichael Hunt; Darius Boyd, Brent Tate, Justin Hodges, Steve Michaels; Darren Lockyer (capt), Shane Perry; Dane Carlaw, Shaun Berrigan, Petero Civoniceva, Corey Parker, Brad Thorn, Tonie Carroll. Subs: Sam Thaiday, Greg Eastwood, Ben Hannant, Mick Ennis.
