As Super League nears the business end of the season, the final chunk of games becomes even more important, especially with how tight the table is.
As it stands, there are just eight points separating the top seven teams in the competition, with Leeds Rhinos leading the way with 30 points.
The Rhinos slipped up at the weekend, losing to neighbours Castleford, and wins for Wigan and Wakefield meant that those two sit just two points behind the front-runners.
Warrington Wolves come next with 26 points, before Leigh Leopards and St Helens round out the play-off positions with 24 points.
Hull KR’s loss to Warrington at the weekend leaves them two points adrift, but you’d have to say they are the only team that will now challenge the current sides for a play-off finish.
As a result of the tightness, not only is every game that much more important now, but games that feature two of the aforementioned seven are now must-win, with points being at a premium at this stage.
With eight games of the regular season to go, we have taken a look at how the Super League table would look if it only consisted of games involving the current top seven.
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How Super League’s top seven have fared against each other as Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves lead the way
1st: Leeds Rhinos – P8 W6 L2 – 12pts +90pd
The table toppers are more than worthy of their current standing, with Brad Arthur’s side winning six of eight games against the six teams below them. Defeats this season have come against Leigh in round one where Jake Connor was injured and against Wigan in Round 10, in arguably their worst display of the year.
They’ve done the double over Hull KR and Warrington, whilst they have games to come against Wakefield (A – R22), Leigh (H – R23), St Helens (A – R25) and Wigan (H – R26)
2nd: Warrington Wolves – P10 W6 L4 – 12pts +46pd
Warrington have played the most games against the top seven than any other, and have won six of their 10 matches.
Wins over St Helens and Wakefield in the opening two games of the season may not have been as important at the time, but they are certainly worth a huge amount now given the closeness of the ladder.
Their four defeats have come to Leeds twice, Wigan and Leigh, whilst they are still to play Leigh (A – R20), Hull KR (A – delayed R2 game) and Wakefield (A – R26).
3rd: Wigan Warriors – P8 W5 L3 – 10pts +41pd
The Warriors have won five from eight against the other play-off contenders, with one of those defeats being the game they handed to Hull KR before the Challenge Cup Final. Other defeats came at Easter against St Helens and Warrington.
Matt Peet’s side have games to come against St Helens and Leigh in the next fortnight, before a three-week spell that sees them play Wakefield, Hull KR and Leeds back-to-back in rounds 24-26.
4th: Hull KR –Â P9 W4 L5 – 8pts +2pd
Despite boasting a sub-50% win rate, the Robins still have a positive points difference against the top six sides, but that is largely down to the 58-point win over Wigan’s kids.
The Robins have been beaten by Wakefield and Leeds twice, whilst Warrington downed them over the weekend.
Their play-off rival matches to end the season are Warrington (H – delayed R2 game) and Wigan (H – R25) before a final day meeting with St Helens that could well decide the final play-off spot.
5th: Wakefield Trinity – P7 W3 L4 – 6pts -53pd
Just like last season, Trinity’s downfall is their inability to win big games, and whilst they are still relatively new to playing at the upper echelons of the competition, if they are to have success this year, they need to continue picking up points against those around them.
They have beaten Hull KR twice and Leigh once, but defeats have come at the hands of Warrington, St Helens, Leeds and Wigan, with the latter two not really being much of a contest at all.
They face top six sides in five of the last six games, with Leeds, St Helens and Wigan coming back-to-back in rounds 22-24, before they take on Warrington and Leigh in the final two games of the season.
6th: St Helens – P8 W3 L5 – 6pts -56pd
Paul Wellens’ kryptonite was failing to win against the big teams, and that seems to have carried over to the Paul Rowley era, with the side winning just three from eight against the top seven.
Wins have come against Leigh, Wigan and Wakefield, but Warrington have beaten them twice, they were thumped by Hull KR, and both Leeds and Wigan have toppled them.
Saints are on the verge of missing the play-offs for the first time in Super League history, and with five ‘big’ games left to come, the side need to start winning these types of games to secure their finals spot.
Remaining top seven games: Wigan (A – R20), Wakefield (A – R23), Leeds (H – R25), Leigh (A – R26), Hull KR (H – R27)
7th: Leigh Leopards – P8 W2 L6 – 4pts -84pd
Leigh’s start to the season has hampered them significantly throughout the season, and only recently have they climbed back into the six.
As part of their disappointing beginning, a number of key games went away from them, some by less than a score. With just two wins from eight, they lose to Saints by two, Wakefield by four and Hull KR by four, and even if they’d have won just one of those, you’d expect Adrian Lam to be feeling a little more secure than he does now.
The Leopards take on Warrington and Wigan in their next two, before Leeds await in Round 23. Home ties against St Helens and Wakefield end the year, and you’d expect both of those games to have a big say in where teams will finish at the season’s culmination.
