PUT aside rivalries for one weekend Super League, we should all be cheering on St Helens when they go up against the Penrith Panthers in the World Club Challenge next weekend.
The Merseyside club overcame St George Illawarra Dragons on Saturday morning (GMT) in a 30-18 victory which is ideal preparation for the titanic clash next weekend.
But, every rugby league fan in the UK should be hoping for a Saints win against the NRL premiers. Why, you may ask?
Of course the rivalries with the likes of Wigan Warriors are great and for some it may prove too much to cheer on their arch-enemies.
For one game only, however, a Super League triumph over the NRL would be the shot in the arm that rugby league in this country desperately needs.
In recent years, the prized Australian competition has grown exponentially with a salary cap triple Super League’s and the continued drain of talent from northern to southern hemisphere.
Those in Australia often look down on the European competition as a lesser one, insisting that those NRL players come over do so because they are either ‘over the hill’ looking for one last pay day or because they cannot get a game Down Under.
In addressing those views, the two competitions are completely different entities and the style of play in both hemispheres cannot really be compared.
With Super League often favouring expansive, off-the-cuff style of play, Saints can really take the game to a methodical, rigid Penrith next weekend.
Cheering on the likes of Jonny Lomax, Jack Welsby and Alex Walmsley may seem alien for some Super League supporters, but, in the grand scheme of things, it would show the NRL what English rugby league is all about and put the idea to bed of a superiority complex.
Come on St Helens.
