The 2006

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was pl ...

was a

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

match held on Friday, 3 February 2006, at

Galpharm Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to naming rights, sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Association football, football club ...

, Huddersfield, UK. The game was contested by

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

and

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

Qualification

Bradford Bulls

Bradford Bulls qualified for the Challenge after being crowned the 2005 Super League champions, defeating their local rivals

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

15–6 at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. This

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

win avenged a defeat to the same team in the title decider the year before.

Wests Tigers

Wests Tigers clinched the 2005 National Rugby League title in a 30–16 defeat of

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

to earn a place in the World Club Challenge. The Tigers had reached the Grand Final for the first time since their formation five years earlier following a merger of

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

and Western Suburbs.

Teams

The Tigers were without six of their 2005 NRL grand final-winning team: star stand-off half back

Benji Marshall Benjamin Quentin Marshall (born 25 February 1985) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played at or . He previously played for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Bro ...

had undergone shoulder surgery in the off season; winger

Pat Richards Pat Richards (born 27 February 1982) is a former professional rugby league footballer. An Ireland international er, he played in the National Rugby League for Sydney clubs the Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers, with whom he won the 2005 NRL ...

and forward Mark O'Neill had signed to play with other clubs, and

Dene Halatau Dene Halatau (born 27 January 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who previously played for the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs of the National Rugby League. Halatau was part of the Wests Tigers ...

Todd Payten Todd Payten (born 18 January 1979) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL and former professional rugby league footballer. As a player he played as a and forward for ...

and

Shane Elford Shane Elford (born 28 December 1977), is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a er and in the 1990s and 2000s. He played in the National Rugby League for Sydney clubs, Penrith and Wests Tigers (with whom ...

were also absent.

Match details

Man of the Match

Stuart Fielden Stuart Fielden (born 14 September 1979) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He was formerly an assistant coach for the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League, and now is a Person ...

of the

was awarded man of the match.

External links

2006 World club Challenge at bradfordbulls.co.uk2006 World Club Challenge at superleague.co.uk
{{2006 in rugby league World Club Challenge Bradford Bulls matches Wests Tigers matches