SCEPTICISM about the legitimacy of the World Club Challenge has always been high in Australia, all the more so after Leeds Rhinos faced Canterbury Bulldogs at Elland Road on Friday night.

Well though the Rhinos played for periods, the only conclusion to be drawn from their win was that a full-strength Bulldogs would have beaten them comfortably had they not gifted Leeds two tries through schoolboy howlers. The Bulldogs were missing six internationals and had not played a competitive game since the National Rugby League Grand Final in October.

Of more interest to the watching Super League coaches was the impression that Leeds, although still the strongest club team in the country, can be beaten this season. Some of their attacking rugby was outstanding, and in Danny McGuire they have the most talented player in Super League, but the scrambling defence that served the Rhinos well last season was exposed by the Bulldogs, particularly during the 15-minute spell during the second half when they scored four tries without response.

While none of Leeds’s Super League rivals can boast a roster that includes any player of the calibre of the awesome Sonny Bill Williams, who at times looked capable of taking on the Rhinos single-handed, Ian Millward of St Helens, Wigan’s Denis Betts, Brian Noble of the Bulls and Hull’s John Kear will have seen enough to think there may be no stand-out team in Super League X.