I'm not ashamed to admit I'm behind them.

I like to think I can recognise a quality team when I see one, and I admire quality, and since we lost all the trolls who infested this place when we were struggling under Mo and Whelan, I feel more brotherly towards their fans anyway.

They've got a job and a half on, but as someone else said, it would look dreadful for our game generally if the best side got shellacked by an Aussie team who their pundits would no doubt then claim was undercooked etc, thus rubbing it in even more.

The real downside of a Saints win would be the attention it would draw to their best players.

I'm not sure it's quite the problem it was back in the days of Wigan v Bath, but that only went west for us because up till then RU were totally confident they had the better players and it was a real wake-up call for them. The Aussies don't need that as our top players' agents are constantly marketing them down there anyway. But if Saints make a really good fist of it, it will be harder for the Phil Goulds of this world to write them off as s###e, and easier for their agents to get through the doors of the NRL's top clubs.

I understand the concern about players' heads being turned but it is what it is.

We were going to crash and burn when KC, Newlove, Scully, Joynt, Long etc retired. We're now going to crash and burn when the current lot do.

It isn't so long ago a good proportion of Saints fans were hammering Woolf for picking Jack Welsby!! The reality is the club will continue to invest in its academy and bring good players through, as will Wigan, and the more go over to the NRL and do well and make good money, the better. They deserve it, there will be other local lads coming through that we will enjoy watching.

Bloody hell i would be If it was a choice of a solar flare and certain death or cheering on a St Helens team i would still rather reach for the sun cream and chance it.

I can sit here and say I want them to win but ultimately when the game kicks off I know I won’t. I can’t help that, it’s natural and 99.9% of their fans would feel the same if the shoe was on the other foot.

What I will say is that I want them to do well in the game and push Penrith every inch of the way. I think the whole event, with it being noted in the middle of the pre season trial team lists on Aussie websites is totally disrespectful but that doesn’t surprise me. I’m convinced Saints will want it far more and I do think they’ll go pretty close.

I must admit I'm torn as well.....

I don't know whether I want Saints to lose by a thwacking 40+

Or for Penrith to score the winner as the final hooter is sounding.

It's stuff like this that makes me wish we would just let the WCC die, it doesn't matter if the English time wins, loses, runs them close or gets battered, the aussies will find a way to spin it in a disrespectful and belittling manner.

I mean we have got to the point now where they are being disrespectful before a ball has even flown through the air. I will say though, Penrith are putting out a stronger team then i expected and they hinted at in their initial statements, so fair do's to them for that.

I will only be watching the first half anyway as then i will have to set off for a more important game, Wigan vs Hull KR!

I never think the Aussies do themselves any favours by employing these excuse-making tactics.

Among the many of the WCC fixtures I've been to, the majority, to me at least, were very fiercely contested. Certainly, no one is telling me that Manly in 87, Brisbane in 94 and St George in 2011 weren't taking it seriously. Those were epic encounters, the Brisbane fixture - at Brisbane, remember - played in front of 54,000 people. Not a bad crowd for a warm-up game.

The problem is that the Phil Goulds of this world just seem to be impervious to criticism and are lacking any self-awareness. They seem completely oblivious to how blatantly unsporting and mendacious such a denial of reality actually seems.

But that stems from innate arrogance, and that's not generally something you can cure people of.

Totally get this and to further comment on Nicky Kiss's post I would be the same in wanting Wigan to lose. No point lying and pretending that I wouldn't.

What I will say though is that my hatred for Wigan has decreased over the years, I'm not like some fans that absolutely despise them and can't give them any praise whatsoever. I'm more than happy to admit to the size of the club, the history, the Academy etc and some of the off the field stuff with some out of the box thinking.

Living in the town for over 20 years, having mates as Wigan fans, both lads going to a Wigan school, having banter with the Dads on the school run, even with their Head who is a mad Wigan fan. I wear Saints training gear sometimes at the gym and have blokes who I've never spoken to before start to talk rugby.

My mate being professionally involved at Wigan was the biggest factor as I found myself wanting them to do well enough for him to keep his job but still not to win anything

No Dylan Edwards as well as the other absentees.

18 players

Water breaks

Sounding more like a friendly.

The almighty NRL are making it feel like that is what it is. Their own website just lumps it in with all the friendlies team lists, so that shows how it’s being thought of Down Under. Making those changes just adds to that, especially running with an 18th man.

If only it wasn’t Saints playing them (or Leeds), I’d be foaming at the mouth for a Superleague win. On the plus side (if you want a Saints win) the sheer arrogance and disrespect they show will fuel Saints I’m sure.

I'm not so sure they are. Listening to an interview with Yeo then it paints a different story. Noticeable too that the WC participants all volunteered to come back in early to train for this when they could've had extra time off. He seems really up for it, its something they've never won as a club and whilst Edwards and Martin aren't playing they've gone very strong.

Their 1-8 all played in the WC and then you've got Leota, Fisher- Harris and Yeo in the pack

I’m talking the general feel you get from the media and in particular the NRL and it’s website. I’ve rarely seen a mention of the game as a stand alone point and most references seem to involve it being part of pre season.

Tough to get a feel for how Penrith see it. It would’ve been rank bad had they not come back a week early in to training, so thank the Lord they didn’t stay away. Any idea on a crowd figure? I follow Penrith on social media channels and haven’t seen anything mentioned.

I was watching Fox Sport earlier and it was back to back reruns of previous WcC.

Not massive hype, but it's there.

I hate the arrogance and ignorance of the Aussies that continually put us down and treat us like a completely different sport . And on that basis I will supporting St Helens tomorrow.Come on Saints , do it for Super League

I’ve not seen any of Fox Spirts build up but banging up old re-runs of World Club challenges doesn’t take much effort to be fair, although granted it’s better than nowt. What I do know is that they can make NZ Warriors vs Gold Coast on a Thursday night seem as big as a Champions League Final when you watch the promos beforehand and they have 24 hours to fill each day, so plenty of time to build it up and do promo pieces on it. Maybe they have, I don’t know but the general feel I’ve got is that it’s being seen as a reasonably big trial game.