23 February 2024 , 17:06
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One memory stands out for Andy Gregory when he helped Wigan rule the world.
It’s 34 years ago that the legendary Great Britain scrum-half led the Cherry and Whites out at Anfield. They went on to destroy Australian premiers Penrith 21-4 in the 1991 World Club Challenge, underlining their growing presence as the sport’s greatest team.
But Gregory, now 62, recalled: “I was living in Widnes then and everyone said I wouldn’t touch the ‘This Is Anfield’ sign as I’m an out-and-out Man United fan.
“Ellery [Hanley] didn’t play that night so I was captain. The next day everyone asked why I didn’t touch it. But I told them I was five foot four - I just couldn’t reach!”
As diminutive as he is, Gregory was a giant of the game and a central part of Wigan’s glorious golden era. He featured when defeating Manly four years earlier in arguably the club’s most famous night and went on to win five Challenge Cups and four league titles. But Gregory reckons the current Wigan side, who take on Penrith for the World Club Challenge again at a sold-out DW Stadium on Saturday night, are destined for their own greatness.
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He recalled: “That team we had was outstanding. For us, I don't think anything will surpass the first one when we beat Manly. That was special. But Anfield was brilliant and I’m honoured to say I played there as well as Maine Road, Old Trafford and Hillsborough.
"To get a win was even better. We were a great side but this Wigan team that’s turning out on Saturday is as well. And it will get better and better. I think Wigan will carry on and dominate like we did in the '80s. But Penrith have fetched a top team full of world-class players. It should be a classic.”
Wigan's Andy Gregory (left) and Martin Offiah after winning the 1992 Challenge Cup (Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)Back in ‘91, Penrith arrived barely a week after winning their Grand Final - and spent most of the build-up to the Anfield clash on the lash. Things are different today with the current Panthers side desperate to finally triumph at the fourth attempt especially having missed out against St Helens 12 months ago. In Kangaroos No7 Nathan Cleary, they have arguably the world’s greatest player.
As a former scrum-half himself, Gregory can fully appreciate his talents. He said: “Cleary is world-class. He can run a game, has a great footballing brain, good hands and that kicking game. If Wigan are going to win it they have to stop him.
"It isn’t that easy as he’s a class player. People wanted to try and stop me. But sometimes it didn’t happen because I had great players around me and we worked together. Being a Wigan lad, I know what it means to Wigan as a town to win this trophy. And we have an incentive. Who holds the World Club Challenge at the moment…? Wigan taking it off St Helens would be great!”
On the Penrith side, he faced, Gregory recalled: “Greg Alexander was a great scrum-half who represented Australia. But Australia had three great players in every position. Back then, Greg was with Peter Sterling, Ricky Stuart and Alfie Langer, all great scrum-halves. Penrith had Royce Simmons at hooker, who I always got on with. And one lad who played back-row - John Cartwright - I actually signed him as head coach at Salford and did a great job for us.”
Simmons, who played more than 200 games for Penrith and later coached them in 1994 after a two-year stint at Hull FC, is in Manchester this week with the Panthers ahead of Saturday’s bout. The ex-Kangaroos star, who also coached St Helens in 2011 and 2012, has painful memories of that trip over to the UK in 1991. Simmons remembered: “It was disappointing for me because it was my last game.
“We won the Grand Final a fortnight previous or whatever it was, and we didn't put our soul into it. We had been on the grub for a couple of weeks. Big Mark Geyer, he lost his passport, and he didn't come over. We didn't pay the respect that we should have paid to the great Wigan side.”
Royce Simmons, front, celebrates Penrith's 1991 Grand Final win over Canberra with Mark Geyer who missed the trip to the UK to face Wigan after losing his passport (Fairfax Media via Getty Images)In terms of those big alcohol-fuelled sessions, he recalled: “After the Grand Final, we drank all week. We then got on the plane, had a few on the plane, and then had a few more drinks when we got over there. We stopped drinking the day before we played. But that's a poor excuse. Wigan were too good for us. It's as simple as that.”
And Simmons admits he tried warning his Penrith pals. He said: “Looking back, I knew how good Wigan were. I had played against them with the Kangaroos. But it didn't matter how much you tried to tell the boys, they thought that because the Kangaroos won all of the time, they'd win as well. It was a disappointing end to my career really."
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Simmons believes the current team have learned their own lessons. He said: “St Helens were too good for them last year. It opened up their eyes to just how strong the Super League is. That was a good learning curve for them."