WOLVES owner Simon Moran recalls the electric atmosphere when Warrington last triumphed over a touring Australian side – 36 years ago.

The primrose and blue boys enjoyed a 15-12 success in 1978, becoming the first of only two club teams to beat Australia during the tour.

Moran remembers a full Wilderspool on that October night, and now hopes Wolves fans will sell-out The Halliwell Jones Stadium when St George-Illawarra Dragons visit on Friday, February 20. in the World Club Series.

“I just remember it being a very exciting game. The atmosphere was electric, a night match, jam-packed to the rafters,” said Moran, who has kept a programme from the match.

“You could feel the excitement in the air, I was young so my memory's a bit jaded, but it sticks in.

“We won, so it was a big deal beating that Australia team. At the time our team was cobbled together, one or two reserves made appearances and players playing on with injury.

“We were trying to find a DVD to show at the club, if anyone has one, we’d love to put it on the big screen.”

St Helens have sold out their meeting with South Sydney Rabbitohs 47 hours later, while Wigan expect a large crowd for their clash with Brisbane Broncos on February 21.

Wolves are a way off, and Moran says it is for nights like the World Club Series the stadium was built.

“We want a 15,000 sell-out,” he added. “Particularly for fans of Warrington, We need to sell that stadium out otherwise why did we build it bigger? We've got great fans, and this is a must-see occasion. We’ve had fans at Wembley and the Grand Finals, this is one of those nights.”

Grand Final losses mean Wolves have not had a competitive meeting with an NRL side since the ill-fated 1997 World Club Championship.

But Moran believes they have proved their worth, including a 34-28 friendly success over South Sydney in 2012, when current influential half-back Adam Reynolds was in the Bunnies’ side.

“When we were in the Grand Final in 2012 and 2013, winning it would have been huge. But not far behind that would have been the fact we would have been in the World Club Challenge.

“That was a real motivation for Tony (Smith) and the players, but we’ve been to Australia twice and we played Souths in a friendly game, which we did win.

“Reynolds was against Lee Briers and Briers ran rings around him, so that certainly whetted the appetite.”