Wollongong’s WIN Stadium will host the first Super League match held outside of Europe when reigning champions Wigan Warriors take on Hull FC on Saturday, February 10, 2018.
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The clash featuring the reigning world club champions will be a rostered Super League clash for premiership points and will be the centrepiece of a nine-day visit to the Illawarra region by Wigan and Hull FC.
In a coup for the region, both rugby league clubs will visit schools and engage in the community during their stay in the region and will then spend four days in Sydney featuring a doubleheader against St George and South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
Parliamentary secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward said he was thrilled the NSW government had secured the exclusive matches for Wollongong and Sydney.
“The Illawarra is passionate about rugby league and I am delighted our region will have the enormous honour of hosting the first Super League match ever played in Australia,” Mr Ward said in a statement exclusively released to the Illawarra Mercury.
“This match will not only excite the community but it will be of enormous benefit to local businesses and I have no doubt fans from right across Australia will get right behind this historic event.”
He said the event is expected to attract 5000 interstate and overseas visitors and inject more than $7million into the state’s economy.
Super League matches have been played in England, Wales, Scotland and France and as far afield as Spain but never outside of Europe.
The event is likely to boost tourism to the region and expose the Illawarra’s rugby league team the Dragons to an international audience.
The clash will come hot on the heels of this year’s Rugby League World Cup and comes amid a huge period of expansion for the code with the world’s first Trans-Atlantic team the Toronto Wolfpack currently dominating the League 1 competition as it mounts a charge towards Super League inclusion.
Ticket information will be available later in the year.
Gareth Ward’s full statement:
I’m delighted to be able to announce that in an Australian first, British rugby league side Wigan will bring their first home match of the 2018 Super League season to Wollongong next February.
The Wigan Warriors will take on Hull FC in the first official Super League match ever played on Australian soil with two additional matches also secured exclusively by the NSW Liberal Government’s tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.
Not only am I proud this match will be played in Australia’s number one state I am thrilled we have secured these exclusive matches for Wollongong and Sydney.
The Illawarra is passionate about rugby league and I am delighted our region will have the enormous honour of hosting the first Super League match ever played in Australia.
This match will not only excite the community but it will be of enormous benefit to local businesses and I have no doubt fans from right across Australia will get right behind this historic event.
The NSW investment in tourism and major events sectors continues to return outstanding results with this event expected to attract 5000 interstate and overseas visitors to NSW injecting more than $7million into the New South Wales economy.
I firmly believe Wigan and Hull fans will be excited about this venture also and we decided to announce this event early to allow fans the chance to plan their trip to Australia.
Ticketing will be announced in late August.
I met with Wigan representatives as part of a NSW business delegation earlier in the year at the request of the hard-working Destination Wollongong and I pay particular credit to Mark Sleigh for his advocacy and dedication towards this event.
It’s going to be a huge, another great victory for our region.
Every day I am fighting for initiatives that promote our region and drive investment and jobs, the benefit about this event is we get to have a lot of fun as well.