St Helens coach Paul Wellens insists the Super League champions are not fazed by predicted temperatures of up to 40 degrees for Saturday’s World Club Challenge and believes the large contingent of Saints fans making the trip to Penrith will buoy his side.
The English club warmed up for the WCC with a 30-18 defeat of St George Illawarra last Saturday night, followed by a rousing rendition of ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’, but Wellens knows the Panthers will pose a far greater challenge.
However, he said the weather would not be a factor, and pointed out that Super League is played in summer, while temperatures in Manchester soared to 37.7 degrees last July.
“The one thing quite a lot of Australians mention when we come over is the heat but what people have got to realise is that we do occasionally have hot days in the UK as well – and trips to Toulouse and trips to Perpignan,” Wellens said.
“We’ve had those experiences and we played Castleford at Wembley in 2021, which was 100 degrees Fahrenheit [40 degrees Celsius] pitch side so lads have had experiences of these types of challenges.
“Obviously, it’s different to what we’re used to, but we make no excuses there. The conditions are the conditions, and we will adapt accordingly.”
To help both sides cope with the forecast 39 degrees temperatures at Penrith, the NRL has introduced a number of changes for the WCC, including:
- Each team allowed to use 18 players;.
- Increased interchanges from eight to 10;
- Playing the match in quarters to allow additional water breaks;
- Restrictions eased on trainers to enable them to provide water to players.
Saints were supported by about 500 travelling fans in Wollongong last weekend but with many more arriving for the World Club Challenge, Wellens believes his team will feel at home, regardless of the weather conditions.
“It is so heart-warming to see so many Saints jerseys out in the crowd when you are 12,000 miles away from home,” Wellens said.
“We know there a lot more coming for next week as well, which really excites us, and it just shows how much this team and the club mean to the people of the town.
“We will do all we can to make it a successful trip for them, but we can’t thank them enough for their support.”
After winning the past four Super League grand finals, the World Club Challenge is the holy grail for Saints and despite the NRL offering $100,000 prizemoney for the winner of the Pre-season Challenge, Wellens and his players have a single focus.
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“Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to take $100,000 back to England,” Wellens said. “But our primary focus has been on preparing well for the Penrith game.
“We have come here to win, we wouldn’t have come all the way out here for any other reason, but at the same time we know that the challenge is huge.
“We have the utmost respect for Penrith and what they have achieved as a team.
“We know that we are going to have to play very well if we are going to get anything out of the game against Penrith, but it is a challenge that we are really looking forward to.
“I think we are as ready as we will ever be and for this team to win four in a row – and a lot of the guys here were involved in all four wins – there is no group more deserving of the opportunity to come out here and test themselves against Penrith.”
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