The World Club Series (WCS) was an exciting concept in theory, but the question on everyone’s lips was whether it would hold up in reality. It definitely did. Rugby league needs to persist with the WCS, and The Future League explains why.

Forget about the World Club Challenge itself for a moment. While it is a hard task, considering the South Sydney Rabbitohs’ 39-0 demolition of St Helens, it’s important that you do so.

Instead, turn your focus to the two matches of the WCS that preceded it. That is where the true value of the concept can be found.

The gulf in class between the NRL and the Super League has been widening for some time and will only continue to do so as the money continues to roll the Australian code’s way. This is not said as an insult or a display of disrespect to the Super League – it’s simply a fact. This is proven by the dominance of Australia and New Zealand at the international level over the last decade, with both teams drawing predominantly from players plying their trade in the NRL.

The relentless intensity and competitiveness of the NRL regular season, coupled with the absolute pressure cooker that is the State of Origin, has helped hone a special class of player. So how does the Super League achieve similar results to not only grow their code but the international teams of the northern hemisphere as well?

Excluding the option of seeing more of their brightest prospects leave the Super League to play in the NRL, the WCS is the answer. The concept needs to stay. The more northern hemisphere players are exposed to the relentlessness of NRL teams the better they will become in the long run.

Warrington Wolves had plenty of chances to beat the St George Illawarra Dragons in the back end of their match on Friday night, but a lack of composure at crucial moments let them down. That will be an invaluable experience for the next time they participate in the WCS.

The Wigan Warriors never gave up and pushed the Brisbane Broncos all the way to extra time, where, again, a lack of composure lost them the game.

These are vital lessons the NRL serves up to its players every week. Any match in any round cannot be taken for granted because the competition is so close: 10 teams have won the NRL since 1998, compared to only four in the Super League since the Grand Final was introduced in the same year.

With international rugby league not getting the prioritisation it deserves in Australia at the moment, the WCS is the best opportunity for northern hemisphere players to get a greater exposure to the rigours, both physical and mental, they can expect to face against teams developed in the furnace of the NRL.

In the long run, the WCS will be an avenue to continually develop the quality of players from the northern hemisphere and, in turn, the global quality of the game itself.