Last updated 11:40, Friday, 13 June 2008

WORLD CHAMPS Leeds Rhinos are top of Super League and favourites Salford City Reds are setting the pace in NL1, but 2008 is still turning into the year of the underdog.

Future star: Dragons’ Thomas Bosc who did the damage against Whitehaven in last season’s Challenge Cup

My eight-year-old son asked last week why I never want the big teams to win when we sit down together at weekends to watch Super League on TV.

Not quite true, but I do instinctively cheer on the outsider. The problem this season is identifying the outsider.

For instance, mighty Wigan, still perhaps the biggest name in world rugby, travel to France on Saturday to face Catalans.

In the past, Wigan would have been strong favourites to return home with the points.

But the Dragons have made a stunning start to the campaign and lie third in Super League, behind the Rhinos and St Helens, and three points ahead of the Warriors, who have a game in hand.

Last weekend they beat Bradford Bulls at Grattan Stadium. Over half the team was French, led by half-back Thomas Bosc, who could yet turn in to a superstar.

No wonder their coach Mick Potter has been snapped up by Saints for next term.

Leeds and Saints are, on their day, still comfortably the top teams in the land, but the gap between the best and the rest is narrowing.

Bottom club Castleford are at present the only weak link. But they have an excuse as they were promoted only last year and are still coming to terms with the top-flight.

And on their day they can still prove formidable opponents. Just above Cas are Hull, who were beating Leeds 18-4 at the break at Headingley last weekend, before the Rhinos staged an inevitable comeback to win 38-22.

Hull are a strong side, yet with improvements across the board in Super League, they are struggling for points.

Despite the threat of relegation being lifted, pressure on coaches is intense.

Ask Peter Sharp, who lost his job with Hull recently, or Jon Sharp, axed by Huddersfield, another side campaigning outside the top six.

I thought Paul Cullen would be at Warrington forever, but he too departed, following a televised home defeat to Cas.

The shocks have not been limited to Super League. Mark Aston edged Sheffield in to an NL1 play-off place last term, and at the half-way point this season, they look set look like bettering that effort.

The shocks in League Two are even more marked. For so many years, Gateshead have been Geordie easybeats.

Last year they trailed home 11th. Today they are flying high, four points ahead of second-placed Barrow, who have two games in hand.

Next come Keighley, who finished a distant 10th in 2007.

Even Blackpool Panthers are on the rise. They enjoyed their first win in 47 games when beating Workington Town in April.

They’ve since added another two and have also picked up a couple of bonus points.

Town host the Panthers on Sunday in the return. Ordinarily, it would be a sure-fire home win, and I would still expect the hosts to collect the three points.

But with Blackpool finally hitting their straps, the clash should stir more interest than in the past. And that has to be good for the game.

MARTIN MORGAN