Melbourne wanted to play London Broncos in warm-up game

A proposed friendly between London Broncos and Melbourne Storm was scrapped due to a dispute over who would foot the bill, according to reports Down Under.

It meant the Storm, in the UK ahead of Friday’s World Club Challenge at Leeds, had to sit out a key weekend in their pre-season programme, ahead of the start of the new NRL season on March 10th.

They had lined up a game against the Broncos – who instead played their Super League game against Wakefield in front of just 1,887 fans at Twickenham Stoop – but the Super League club were told they would have to contribute to the Storm’s tour costs, with the RFL quoted as saying it would be unfair for Leeds to take a financial risk in playing the game and the Broncos to take none.

An RFL spokesman said: “All financial arrangements surrounding the hosting of the World Club Challenge and any warm-up fixture are the preserve of the clubs involved. It is the clubs who decide how profits are shared from the World Club Challenge and whether they wish to stage a warm-up game.

“It is custom that any club which hosts a warm-up fixture is expected to meet all additional costs incurred by the NRL champions and reach agreement with the Super League champions on the size of any contribution to travel costs from Australia.”

After being told they would have to contribute to Storm’s costs, the Broncos pulled out of the game, with coach Tony Rea claiming it was a golden opportunity missed.