That's a really costly loss for Wigan tonight. We've got a chance of pretty much ending their top 4 chances next week when we go there. They'll need to be much much better than they were tonight because they were very poor.

You'll beat us easily. Scoreline might be close but the game won't be! Leeds are still my bet for a SL and CC double.

Guaranteed 2nd place now (congrats Lioner 81 ) so fixtures we get are

Home vs 3rd - 4th - 6th -7th
Away vs 1st - 5th - 8th

Cas away is now guaranteed, other positions tbd but a if we beat Wigan away next week we'd condemn them to 8th spot and book another away trip to the DW.

Despite thinking we'd finish 6th at the start of the year & our best chance of silverware being the CC i now don't fear any of the other teams in the top 8.
Of course Wigan away is ALWAYS a tough game for us & we haven't looked like beating Cas all year but i think we should have enough to now secure 2nd then it's anybodies & no-one knows how Cas will handle it.

Agreed mark i thought the same, but like you say we are in the mix and there is nobody to fear.

I feel we have as good a chance as any of winning SL now and i include Cas in that who are the team to beat.would love it if it was a GF us and them.

I think the next 4 games are key to where we finish starting with Wigan next week

If we get to the CC Final we know our record is not good afterwards. In the 7 regular games after the 14 & 15 finals we only won one of those and that was the last second try by Hall against Hudds.

I think given their position wigan could throw everything at the cup.
I said before the Q/F's the two who reach the final will struggle to reach the GF. I still think that.
having said that I think we have a great chance of winning one or the other.
sneaky feeling hull could do us but we win the GF. i'd take either though

I thought the same about whoever reaches the CC final will struggle to reach the GF mostly because of losing league games post Wembley. But now we've opened up a 4 point gap in 2nd, if we can expend that to 6pts maybe even 8pts before Wembley (IF we get there which is most certainly far from a given) that would provide some breathing room post Wembley.

If we were to face the likes of Salford and Wakey pre Wembley that would help.

Interestingly now I think if Hull win the semi final they might miss out on a playoff spot. Currently out of the top 4 ATM and 6 losses in their last 9 league games. They equally struggled post Wembley as we did in the 2 previous years.

Wigan are clinging on by their fingernails, Saints away form is woeful......so Wakefield should really fancy their chances imo of getting a playoff spot.

Friday's game is a massive one for Wigan, and I think The Silverback will have them pumped up to the hilt for it. Leeds win, and it's Wigan's League campaign over for me, Wigan win, and dependent on results elsewhere, they could only be 3 points off a semi final place with the Super8's to play. Anybody who thinks Wigan are even considering putting the cue on the rack to concentrate on the Challenge Cup is being a bit naive I think. A defeat for them Friday would drain some belief, but a win could kick start their season with what is now a near full squad to select from. Having seen our post C.C . Final form in previous seasons, I think it would be foolhardy to star "saving" players for the upcoming semi. The 2 points available could be massive in a couple of months. A drop in form and going to Cas for a play off semi final anybody ? Nah, me neither.

Wouldn't go as far as saying they'll have the cue on the rack already especially Wane, but their players will know where they are in the league table and now it's slim to make top 4.

They've had starters back for a few weeks now, did enough to avoid bottom 4 and Thursdays performance looked like a team who didn't think they could still reach the playoffs. Add in what Wane was fuming about afterwards saying he expected a huge effort for O'Loughlin's 400th game and they were comfortably out enthused by a Wire team already condemned to bottom 4.

You need to factor in the Perpignan effect. I was over there last week and it was around the 30 degree mark also very humid. On Thursday v Wire, Wigan lacked energy, especially in the last 20 minutes. Yesterday the Wigan u19's who also played in Perpignan last week really struggled v Huddersfield and only just won.

I notice today Catalan have fallen apart in the last 10/15 minutes at Saints after only trailing by two points.

I do agree however that much will depend on the Challenge Cup semi final results, AND the fixture scheduling, you wouldn't want to play Cas the week prior to or the week after a Wembley final.

nobody has mentioned injuries either. all clubs have 2/3 keys players who if they are lost to injury will struggle big time. for us, obviously, its parcell and cuthbertson. keeping key players fit is a must this season

Ideally you'd want to face Cas in the last few weeks when they've more than likely already claim the LLS and could have their foot off the gas and resting players. Likewise any team that is mathematically out of the running which looks like it'll take longer to happen this year.

Personally for Leeds wouldn't mind taking on Salford and Wakefield early rounds of the 8's and trying to extend our lead in 2nd place. If Hull beat us in the semi final then play them either side of Wembley.