Feather wins place in heavyweights

Widnes will be looking to turn the Super League table on its head today when they take on Leeds Rhinos at the Halton Stadium. The Vikings, one of two teams without a point, face a difficult task against the unbeaten Rhinos.

'I think Widnes will be a big threat, especially with the game being at home and they have a good record against Leeds in recent years,' admitted Leeds coach Tony Smith.

'They have had a difficult start to the season but there is no question of us going into this game underestimating what they can do. They have some dangerous players who can win the game for them if we are not at our best.'

One player looking for a big game will be 22-year-old prop Chris Feather, who, after 30 games as a substitute, will start his first game for Leeds.

Huddersfield will be aiming to maintain their impressive start to the season when they take on fellow Challenge Cup semi-finalists Wigan at the McAlpine Stadium.

A potential first cup final appearance for 42 years is high on the thoughts of Huddersfield fans but new coach Jon Sharp is confident his players will have their minds on the job.

'The players have all kept their heads down in training this week and haven't allowed the Challenge Cup draw to be a distraction,' he said.

Wigan, without five regulars through injury and suspension, will give a debut to teenager Bob Beswick while Huddersfield are injury-free and have skipper Darren Fleary and full-back Paul Reilly back after being rested for last week's cup tie against York.

London Broncos coach Tony Rea is not so fortunate. He was down to 16 senior players for last Sunday's win over Salford and is unlikely to have reinforcements back for the visit of Warrington.

BRADFORD AND ST HELENS maintained their 100 per cent start to Super League on Friday but they were forced to work for the points by two of the struggling sides.

The Bulls were staring at a shock home defeat by Salford when they trailed 18-10 early in the second half but finished strongly to claim a 25-18 victory while Saints also pulled away in the second half to win 22-14 at Castleford.