WIGAN and Hull will learn in the next 10 days if they will play a historic Super League game Down Under.
But SunSport understands it will NOT be the opening weekend of the 2018 season.
Both clubs want to head to Australia to take on NRL sides South Sydney and St George-Illawarra in a double header at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.
However, Super League chiefs will meet to decide on a plan that will see them face each other in a competitive match, with WIN Stadium in Wollongong a suggested venue.
Sources have told SunSport that the plan is being put forward for ratification in the coming days, but it will also need the go-ahead from the NRL.
And there is a ‘good chance’ of the league game being given the go-ahead, but it will not be the opening game of the season.
The World Club Challenge and World Club Series, which will also take place around the same time in February, will also not be effected, even if either Hull or Wigan win Super League this year.
If one does, that opens up the chances of the World Club Challenge being held in Australia, like in 2014 when Wigan face Sydney Roosters in their own back yard.
As it stands, the champions of Super League and the NRL will face each other in the World Club Challenge, with one or more games around it in the World Club Series wanted.
This year saw Warrington defeat Brisbane before Wigan defeated Cronulla, but it is yet to be known how many Aussie clubs will take part.
The NRL is at the centre of complex and increasingly bitter negotiations with the Players’ Union over a collective bargaining agreement, which may yet end with a strike.
However, sources down under say a deal on how much players get from revenue generated by the governing body is close.
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