Allan Alfie Langer believes there's tries in tonight's World Club Series clash between his former clubs Warrington Wolves and Brisbane Broncos

The former Brisbane Broncos, Queensland, Australia and Warrington Wolves great will be on and off the Halliwell Jones Stadium pitch like a yo-yo when the two sides clash in the World Club Series from 8pm.

He’ll be bringing on water for the troops and running errands for his old mentor Wayne Bennett, the Broncos coach, passing on key messages to the players.

“I’ll have to do a bit of running to keep warm, it’s a bit cool over here at the minute,” he said with that cheeky smile of his beaming on his face.

“I still enjoy being involved,” said the 50-year-old former scrum half, who was brought out of retirement by then Warrington coach Darryl Van de Velde to play the 2000 and 2001 seasons with The Wire.

“To be involved at this great club under Wayne Bennett is great and it’s great to be still involved with the game. I do a bit with the team and a bit of corporate work with the club, it keeps me involved.”

It isn’t a full-time role in the city for Alf, a multi-award winning player of the late 80s, 90s, and early 00s who helped lead Broncos to four NRL Grand Final wins and three minor premiership successes.

“I live up at the sunshine coast and have a restaurant there, at Caloundra. We have a restaurant and an event and party hire business. It’s all going well at the moment and keeps me busy enough.”

As much as Alfie’s Mooo Char & Bar is serving him well on the esplanade of picturesque Bulcock Beach, he was like a kid in a candy shop leading up to his return to Warrington this week.

And he caught up with a few ‘of the boys’ yesterday afternoon for ‘a quiet ale’ he said.

“I’ve been looking forward to it,” he said.

“It’s good to come back. We were in London for a few days but to come back up north and to catch up with some mates it’s a good couple of days.

“I never thought I would leave the Broncos and come to another club but the Warrington people and the club looked after me great. I had a ball here and certainly made plenty of friends.

Alf, scoring his first try for The Wire against London Broncos at Wilderspool in 2000. Picture by Mike Boden

“It was always great when I was here. I know this game’s not back at Wilderspool, where I played for the team, but at the new stadium and it’s going to be a great occasion.

“Hopefully they get a crowd crowd, they’ll certainly see a good game.”

Langer,, defeated in two Challenge Cup semi finals with Warrington against form club Bradford Bulls, says the Broncos team cannot afford to consider this match ‘a friendly’ or a ‘trial’ game.

“Hopefully it’s a good start to Broncos’ season,” he said.

“The two games in previous years against Wigan have been tough games, so it’s a good start for them for the season.

“It’s a no-nonsense game, you can’t really call it a trial game so they’re going have to be at their best if they’re going to win.

“They’re all itching for a game. They’ve had enough of the training, and it’s been warm at home so it’s been a lot of hard work for them, so to come over here and get the season underway it’s great for them.”

He said Korbin Simms, brother of Wolves prop Ashton, had not made the trip due to being a recent signing and not having done all the pre-season work with the squad.

And he revealed that New Zealand prop Adam Blair’s partner has just given birth, so he stayed behind too.

But he said: “The depth of the squad is really good, and we’ve got a really good squad here.

“To leave blokes like them back home shows that.

“We’ve brought a couple of younger guys who won’t get a game but we will have to call on them during the season. They’ll benefit from the experience, having not been to London or England before.

“It’s a good chance for them to spend plenty of time together as a team, as they’re going to be with each other for a lot of time this year.”

And he echoed thoughts of players that Brisbane are happy to be a part of the World Club Series, although other NRL clubs turned it down due to conflicting with pre-season preparations in what is a long campaign extended by the World Cup Down Under in October, November and December.

“Melbourne and the Cowboys pulled out of coming over, but Wayne Bennett thinks it’s great for the game,” said Alf.

“He thinks they’ll be able to handle it, with the way the season has started for us the last two years.

“We haven’t been far off, we lost in a Grand Final two years ago and lost in a semi final last year. So they’re not far off and just need to put it together.

“We probably struggled a bit through the Origin period last year which didn’t help but the depth seems to be a lot better this year and the younger blokes are a year older and probably gained from the experience of last year.”

His final word is about the talented half backs in the Brisbane side tonight, Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt.

“Yes, Milford lights up the NRL and with Ben Hunt, after making his decision to go to St George next year probably taking a bit of pressure off his shoulders, if they can create the running game then the crowd could see some entertainment on Saturday night.

“Hopefully it’s an entertaining game and hopefully everyone will see some tries.”