As Wigan Warriors battle for top spot and Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves, Hull KR and Salford Red Devils fight for play off spots, there is a scrap for survival at the bottom between Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity.
Wakefield looked gone but Castleford’s points difference advantage has evaporated after a huge defeat to Warrington.
But Wakefield’s hopes for survival have been hurt by the potential a loss of one of their star signings for the rest of the season.
That is of course Will Dagger who suffered a suspected broken collarbone after what Mark Applegarth called an “unseen” tackle from Konrad Hurrell.
This happened in a defeat to St Helens. St Helens laid down a marker early on with a rampant run from the returning Konrad Hurrell he found Jonny Lomax inside to score the opening try and make it 6-0.
A former Saint though hit back instantly for Wakefield with Matty Ashurst burrowing over.
The Saints though would retake the lead building pressure via two consecutive penalties with Tommy Makinson on hand to dive in at the corner to make it 10-6 with Mark Percival this time missing the conversion.
Wakefield looked set to be in the game at halftime as they entered the final 10 minutes of the half 10-6 behind.
But it was a case of 10 points in 10 minutes.
The retiring James Roby in the last few weeks of his career was on hand to touch down a kick no one else was around to collect.
Percival this time converted but he couldn’t convert Saints’ fourth try with Jon Bennison scoring in the corner. This made it 20-6 at the break at Belle Vue.
It was paramount that Wakefield scored the first try of the second half and they did after keeping the ball alive with Lee Kershaw scoring in the corner.
A missed conversion left then 20-10 behind but they were were soon starring down an even bigger deficit.
This is because Makinson scampered in for his try of the day making it 26-10.
That score almost secured the result but another try certainly did as Jon Bennison broke down the left before finding Lewis Dodd in support.
There was a late flurry for Wakefield with Kershaw notching a second try of the game to make it 32-16.
The result is huge for St Helens as it sees them move joint top with Wigan and Catalans Dragons at the top of the Super League table.
For Wakefield it will feel like a crushing defeat. A valiant effort for sure but too late. If they had played like this in their last two games, they could be 11th rather than 12th which is some how both a small and gigantic difference.
Instead, today’s defeat sees them pushed closer to the Championship.
