WHAT a great event it was at the MKM Stadium last Thursday night!

There are very few better Rugby League events I can remember attending.

Cup Finals and Grand Finals are all marvellous, but they come round every year.

In contrast, Hull KR winning the World Club Challenge at the MKM Stadium might never come round again.

For Hull KR supporters, what a glorious day it must have been to be alive.

And after the game I couldn’t help thinking of some great and iconic Hull KR names who are no longer here to witness that success, such as the great Phil Lowe, who died just two years ago, or Roger Millward, who passed away in 2016.

Wouldn’t those two greats have been proud to see his club scale the heights against the great Brisbane Broncos.

I’m not naturally a religious person, but it would be good to think that Phil, Roger and some of the other greats of Hull KR were watching on and celebrating, if only that were possible.

It’s been an astonishing story.

And the match itself was befitting of the occasion and the Hull KR narrative.

It all seemed to be going Hull KR’s way, until the Broncos suddenly sprang into life in the last 20 minutes, scoring 20 points to come back from 30-4 to 30-24.

Many Hull KR fans, I’m sure, had memories of that famous Million Pound Game against Salford in 2016, when they looked home and dry, only for Salford to shock them at the end and win it with a golden-point field-goal.

Surely the same thing couldn’t happen again!

It could have, but fortunately it didn’t.

The Hull KR players looked absolutely shattered by the time the final hooter went.

But to a man they went to acknowledge their families and the fans in the stands.

They deserved every bit of celebration they were able to enjoy, before they set off on Sunday across the Atlantic for the next chapter in the Hull KR story.

Vegas and Super League

Last year Wigan and Warrington were the two Super League teams chosen to represent Super League at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and that game kicked off at 9.30pm out time, which was 1.30pm local time.

This year Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos will kick-off at midnight our time, or 4.00pm local time.

The difference is caused by the fact that last year there was a game at midnight between the Australian Jillaroos and the England Women’s team.

After the Jillaroos embarrassingly one-sided victory, that fixture isn’t being repeated, and it means that the Super League has been put back to a time that might not attract many viewers to Sky’s coverage.

I wonder whether future Las Vegas weekends might benefit from having two Super League matches, involving four teams, with the first game kicking off again at 9.30pm our time.

That would surely draw a bigger TV audience and it would also ensure that more English fans would make the trip to Las Vegas.

Perhaps this is an issue the RFL might want to raise with their NRL equivalents.

Championship ups and downs

I’m taking a great interest in the merged Championship competition this year.

Despite the shocking loss of Featherstone Rovers and the liquidation of the company that ran the Halifax Panthers, I sense that the competing clubs are themselves enjoying the new competition.

And after Round 4 of the competition at the weekend, it was interesting to see that the top four clubs in the league table all lost their matches.

Barrow lost at Sheffield, Rochdale at home to Hunslet, Dewsbury at home to Goole and Newcastle at home to North Wales Crusaders.

There are now six clubs on six points, with London Broncos unbeaten in three games, while Sheffield Eagles are the only other unbeaten club, although they have only played two games because they had a bye and then they should have played Halifax last week in a game that was postponed.

The Broncos clearly look to be well ahead of the rest, but it will be interesting to see how the table develops underneath them.

And next Sunday afternoon we will have the battle of the Vikings, as Widnes host Goole in a game that wasn’t originally on the fixture list but which was inserted after both clubs lost their games against the absent Featherstone.

Origin heads overseas

State of Origin’s global footprint will grow in 2027 following the confirmation that New Zealand will host its first-ever State of Origin match next year at Eden Park, Auckland.

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) made the announcement last week alongside the New Zealand Government and Auckland Council.

It will be only the second time that Origin has been played outside Australia, although the first occasion in the 1980s in Long Beach, California was hardly a serious exercise.

ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys AM said the historic clash gives the people of New Zealand the opportunity to experience the intensity of the game’s greatest rivalry.

“Rugby League is the number one sport in Australia and the Pacific, and the growth we have seen in New Zealand over recent years has been nothing short of extraordinary,” he said.

“State of Origin isn’t just a football match – it’s a cultural phenomenon. It’s the greatest rivalry in Australian sport, and in 2027 it will be showcased on one of the most famous sporting stages in the world.

“The eyes of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and beyond will be on Eden Park, and it will be a milestone moment for the game.”

That is surely true and it is surely the precursor to the NRL establishing a second team in New Zealand, ideally in Christchurch in the South Island.

I shall look forward to seeing how that develops.