World Club Challenge returns with 2023 pre-season locked in
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The World Club Challenge is back for the first time in three years and NRL newcomers the Dolphins face fellow Queenslanders the Cowboys and Titans during a fortnight of red hot pre-season action to launch 2023.
NRL premiers the Panthers will host Super League champions St Helens in the World Club Challenge at BlueBet Stadium on Saturday February 18 - the first time the game has been staged since 2020 when the Roosters beat St Helens on their own patch.
The Panthers will be searching for their first WCC success after going down to Wigan in 1991 and Bradford in 2004.
St Helens were part of the last World Club Challenge played before COVID, losing to the Roosters in 2020. The English powerhouses have been successful twice, beating the Broncos in 2001 and again in 2007.
The Dolphins will take their first steps onto the big stage at Barlow Park in Cairns on February 12 against the Cowboys and back up a week later against the Titans in Redcliffe.
The 2023 NRL Draw is here!
Other highlights of a jam packed pre-season schedule are the annual Charity Shield clash between the Dragons and Rabbitohs in Mudgee on February 18.
This is the sixth consecutive year the picturesque Glen Willow Stadium has hosted the pre-season showdown between two of the game's fiercest rivals, with the Rabbitohs holding a 4-1 advantage in Mudgee since 2018.
The Eels and Panthers will clash at BlueBet Stadium on February 11 in a repeat of the 2022 NRL grand final while newcomers the Dolphins make their first appearance against the Cowboys in Cairns the following day.
The Raiders will travel to Moruya on the NSW South Coast for a clash against the Bulldogs on February 12, before both clubs head to Belmore on Sunday, February 19, as part of a double-header that also features Wests Tigers and Cronulla.
The new look NRL Pre-Season is exclusive to Fox League, available on Kayo.
2023 action is only a month away!
2023 NRL Pre-season fixtures
Week One
Thursday, February 9
- 6.00pm — Warriors v Wests Tigers at Mt Smart Stadium
Friday, February 10
- 5.55pm — Knights v Sharks at Central Coast Stadium
- 8.00pm — Rabbitohs v Sea Eagles at Central Coast Stadium
Saturday, February 11
- 6.00pm — Eels v Panthers at BlueBet Stadium
- 8.05pm — Dragons v St Helens at WIN Stadium
Sunday February 12
- 1.50pm — Storm v Roosters at GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
- 3.55pm — Raiders v Bulldogs at Ack Weyman Oval, Moruya
- 6.00pm — Cowboys v Dolphins at Barlow Park, Cairns
- 8.05pm — Broncos v Titans at Sunshine Coast Stadium
Week Two
Friday, February 17
- 5.55pm — Knights v Eels at Central Coast Stadium
- 8.00pm — Roosters v Sea Eagles at Central Coast Stadium
Saturday, February 18
- 3.30pm — Dragons v Rabbitohs at Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee
- 6.00pm — Panthers v St Helens at BlueBet Stadium
- 8.10pm — Broncos v Cowboys at Sunshine Coast Stadium
Sunday, February 19
- 12.50pm — Warriors v Storm at Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch
- 2.55pm — Wests Tigers v Raiders at Belmore Sports Ground
- 5.00pm — Bulldogs v Sharks at Belmore Sports Ground
- 7.05pm — Dolphins v Titans at Moreton Daily Stadium
