Wigan head coach Matt Peet shrugged off suggestions of a seismic shift in rugby league’s balance of power, despite his side’s dramatic World Club Challenge win over triple defending NRL champions Penrith at a sold-out DW Stadium.

Wigan’s 16-12 triumph, which was confirmed when Taylan May’s potentially match-equalling try on the hooter was ruled out by a matter of millimetres, marked the first time in 16 years that English clubs have claimed back-to-back wins over their Australian counterparts.

The big-money razzmatazz of the NRL – which kicks off with an historic season-opener in Las Vegas next weekend – has often been regarded as a source of envy, but Peet is adamant the constant comparisons with the game Down Under are doing the English game a disservice.

“I don’t think it is a matter of comparison,” said Peet, for whom victory completed his fairytale rise through the Wigan coaching ranks and added the sport’s only global club honour to recent Challenge Cup and Grand Final successes.

“The NRL is an unbelievable competition, it’s got so much going for it, but we know what we’ve got in this country and we should take more pride in it.

“We talk too much about what they think of us. We should just be concerned with what we think of ourselves.

“We watch their games and we learn from it and we admire it. But we have got a special competition ourselves with some special individuals in it and we should just talk about that.”

Peet’s side held firm in the face of relentless Penrith pressure, snatching an opening try through Abbas Miski then regaining their lead through Kruise Leeming after Penrith talisman Nathan Cleary had put his side in front for the first time.

Penrith full-back Dylan Edwards restored his side’s lead in a thrilling, see-saw encounter, but Jake Wardle wriggled over early in the second half to restore Wigan’s advantage before Jai Field dumped May into touch when he looked a near certainty to level the scores.

Bevan French was denied a potential match-winning try by a slim offside call then Wigan were forced to live on their nerves when May looked to have reached the corner as the seconds ticked down.

Vanquished Penrith head coach Ivan Cleary, whose starting line-up featured 10 of the players who had also been edged out by St Helens in Sydney last year, conceded the result reflected a further step towards parity between the two competitions.

“We’ve always realised that the top teams in Super League are very good. Probably it’s the strength in depth where the NRL is a little different in that sense, but I hope tonight’s result is only going to help,” said Cleary.

“I feel like the best teams can match each other, but I’m not sure about the rest.

“One really good thing about the NRL is you never get an easy game and that’s probably the difference in the competitions.”

Wigan will return to more mundane matters when they host Huddersfield in their first home game of the Super League season next Friday, but the epic manner of their victory has only fuelled Peet’s desire for more success.

The rare sight of sold-out signs around the DW Stadium reflected a continued passion for the club in a town weaned on famous rugby league nights, not least memories of their four previous World Club Challenge trophies, all of which had been paraded on the pitch by former players prior to kick-off.

“It was a special night tonight but who is to say that we can’t have more nights like that and make it more of a regular thing, to increase attendances and the impact this club has on the town,” added Peet.

“There is plenty to build on, on and off the field. There is no reason why we shouldn’t get more big games if we keep learning and improving.

“The thought of that being our last big night would be horrendous.”

Sold-out signs and the sight of the world’s best player gunning for revenge are set to make it a World Club Challenge to remember when Wigan pit their wits against triple NRL defending champions Penrith Panthers at the DW Stadium on Saturday.

The Warriors will join the Sydney Roosters as five-time winners of the prestigious, if inconsistently contested, pinnacle of the global club game if they deal a further blow to a side still smarting from their golden-point defeat to St Helens a year ago.

For all their acclaim as one of the greatest sides to grace Australia’s high-profile and lucrative NRL, Penrith are still yet to lift the accolade, having lost all three of their previous finals, including to Wigan in 1991, and it is something their talismanic half-back Nathan Cleary is desperate to put right.

“Losing to Saints last year still hurts, but we’re lucky enough to get the chance of redemption,” said Cleary, who led Australia to World Cup glory on his last visit to the UK in 2022.

“As a club we haven’t won the World Club Challenge so that’s another thing we want to do, get the final trophy in the cabinet.

“I have fond memories of being over here and winning the World Cup, and although I’m back with a different team there’s the same desire and drive. It’s a great challenge but also a great opportunity and the end goal would be special.”

In contrast Wigan boast a stirring history in the competition, their notoriously brutal initial win over Manly at Central Park in 1987, starring the likes of Ellery Hanley, Joe Lydon and Henderson Gill, followed by subsequent triumphs in 1991, 1994 and 2017.

In centre Adam Keighran, whom they signed from Catalans at the end of last year’s Grand Final-winning campaign, they also possess something of an inside-track on what makes their rivals tick, the 26-year-old having spent two years with Penrith’s New South Wales Cup side from 2018.

Keighran told the PA news agency: “I think there are similarities between both clubs. Penrith are a bit isolated out there in the west and they form a very tight-knit group involving the whole community, and I’ve noticed the same thing here.

“I know last year was a very disappointing loss for them and I think it’s something they’re very keen to change. I don’t think their perception of the English game has changed but they’ll be more hungry than they were last year to set things straight.”

After a sporadic start, the World Club Challenge has been played every year, barring Covid, since 2000, although it was not until 2014, when Wigan were swept aside by Sydney Roosters, that the event in its modern iteration was staged outside the UK.

The perceived reluctance of English teams to travel drew scorn from some in Australia who suggested clubs used the event as little more than pre-season preparation, but the nature and magnitude of Saints’ win last year appears to have contributed to a significant shift-change.

While the old days of well over 30,000 packing into the old Central Park to watch the win over Manly have long gone, the sold-out signs at the DW Stadium have been stuck up since January which bears testament to the enthusiasm for a fixture that could steer Wigan to the summit for a fifth time.

“There has been a real anticipation and buzz around the town for months now,” said Wigan captain Liam Farrell, who also played in his side’s defeat to the Roosters at the DW Stadium in 2019.

“The club has got a strong history in the World Club Challenge, so if we can play our small part in that and get a win on Saturday, that would be great for us to be a little piece of that special history.”

Wigan will draft academy product Harvie Hill into their line-up in place of new signing Luke Thompson, who is absent having failed a head injury assessment in the wake of their opening Super League win over Castleford.

Penrith head coach Ivan Cleary also turns to youth, with 20-year-old Jack Cole set to partner Nathan Cleary in the halves in the absence of the injured Jarome Luai.

Harry Smith is free to feature in Wigan’s World Club Challenge clash with Penrith after escaping a ban for his tip-tackle on Castleford’s Luke Hooley in Friday night’s Betfred Super League opener.

The 24-year-old was sent to the sin bin following the incident but received a Grade B charge because the RFL’s match review panel found that “the unnatural actions of the tackled player significantly contributed to the outcome of the tackle”.

Grade B charges generally incur a one-match ban, but previous conduct can provide a mitigating circumstance and the half-back, a pivotal figure in Wigan’s hopes of emulating St Helens and claiming the title next Saturday, got away with a £250 fine.

Four red and nine yellow cards were issued in the opening round of Super League fixtures, with three players given Grade E charges and referred to tribunals which could rule them out for between four to six games.

Hull’s Franklin Pele, Castleford’s Liam Watts and Catalans’ Michael McIlorum were all sent off for head contact in their respective matches.

However, RFL chiefs insist the eye-catching number of sanctions were not unduly affected by new tackle rule protocols which came into play ahead of the new campaign.

Robert Hicks, the RFL’s director of operations and legal, said: “Of the 13 cards shown, 10 of the incidents would have led to a card being shown under the framework that applied in 2023.

“It was a highly successful opening round of Betfred Super League fixtures, and it is right that the focus is already turning to the second round of matches, and also the Betfred World Club Challenge.”