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If Melbourne's navigational skills on the pitch are as good as those off it, then Leeds could well have a chance in Sunday's World Club Challenge, which pits the NRL champions against the kings of Super League.

Four of their players turned up for the "Pie, Peas and Rugby League" night I hosted at Headingley on Wednesday slightly later than anticipated. In truth, the Storm entourage arrived only marginally behind schedule. But after rejecting the offer of a cab to make their own way to the ground, their subsequent travails as they looked to find their way along the darkened back streets of Leeds amused the assembled punters immensely.

The "Evening with Melbourne Storm" was a big success. It was terrific to see a sell-out, and great to see the Melbourne boys interacting so well with the Leeds fans during the Q&A session. Rising star Gareth Widdop, prop Ryan Tandy, joker Dane Nielsen and the fronted up to be bombarded by a barrage of questions, all of which were taken in good grace.

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As a committed - some may say die-hard - rugby league fan, the past weekend was something of a personal disgrace. Not only did I fail to attend a single Super League fixture, I spent Saturday sitting through - and enjoying - .

I bore even myself with my tireless championing of the 13-man code and, as a general rule, fail to be inspired by union. Yet the was an absolute belter, and the climax was as thrilling as it gets in international sport.

The Welsh were brilliant, and I certainly can't remember the last time a British rugby league team played in a contest of such thrilling excitement and intensity. Does that make me a traitor?

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The first full round of afforded me the opportunity of a weekend in Leeds, to see . It was a gloomy, misty, muddy and miserable west Yorkshire evening off the back of four hours on the M1, but there weren't many other places I'd have rather been.

recorded their first win at Headingley since 2002 - and fully deserved to do so. I remarked during commentary at half-time that no matter how well they were playing, I didn't sense the belief in the Tigers team that they could topple the . Shows what I know.

"It was pretty impressive," Cas coach Terry Matterson told me afterwards as we conducted our post-match interview in the Rhinos laundry room. If you listen back to the interview, the high-speed washing machine is clearly audible as Terry talks me through his masterplan.

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Crowds and early season fisticuffs provided the two main talking points from last weekend's two Super League games.

On a personal note, it was not the most impressive start to a Super League season either. I was late for the match between at the Stoop, thanks to a seven-mile journey that took me an hour-and-a-half by car.

I must admit, I did fear I'd got kick-off time wrong. The ground looked half empty on approach, a concern given the to consolidate their Super League status. The club tell me they expect attendances to increase as the season progresses should their large-scale marketing strategy pay off. And with an average home gate of below 3,500, they will need to.

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