Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:50 pm  

Looking at the remaining fixtures I think it's a case of we have to win 2 out of 3. If we only win one I think Wigan will take top spot after winning all their remaining games. I'm going to be optimistic and say we will beat Warrington and Huddersfield after losing to Leeds and the top 6 will finish up like so:

St Helens - 40 points
Wigan - 39 points
Castleford - 38 points
Leeds - 36 points
Warrington - 34 points
Huddersfield - 34 points

I'd be extremely happy with this as I've lost hope of us competing for the Grand Final with our current injury problems.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:58 pm  

BackrowSaint wrote:

Looking at the remaining fixtures I think it's a case of we have to win 2 out of 3. If we only win one I think Wigan will take top spot after winning all their remaining games. I'm going to be optimistic and say we will beat Warrington and Huddersfield after losing to Leeds and the top 6 will finish up like so:

St Helens - 40 points
Wigan - 39 points
Castleford - 38 points
Leeds - 36 points
Warrington - 34 points
Huddersfield - 34 points

I'd be extremely happy with this as I've lost hope of us competing for the Grand Final with our current injury problems.

Surely history says we stand a chance next week at Leeds? No team backs a challenge cup final up well.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:03 pm  

St pete wrote:

Surely history says we stand a chance next week at Leeds? No team backs a challenge cup final up well.

That is true and there is a chance they make take the foot of the gas somewhat to hold something back for the playoffs. Going through a CC final win, 3 intense games for the LLS, the playoffs and possibly a Grand Final without any let up is a good way to burn yourself out both physically and mentally.

Leeds play ourselves, Wigan and Hull so there's no 'easy' games there, despite Hull's poor performance this year.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:15 pm  

You should beat Leeds as their cup win will have them happy and relaxed and not in the mood for a head on battle. Also think you'll beat Wire at home.
Just can't see you winning at Hudds though. A game too far I'd imagine.

As for Wigan, a lot will hinge on the team Shaun Wane selects. He usually sends a weakened squad to Widnes which last season saw us win by 1 point and the previous season lose by the same margin. Then it's Leeds and Wire at home. So no certainties there though.
With three games to go it's a good end to the season.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:46 pm  

We could still finish top with one win over Warrington, the scenario would be Wigan to beat Leeds, Warrington to beat Wigan, Catalan to beat Castleford, Huddersfield could win all there games but could lose out on points difference.

Hull KR, Widnes, Catalan and Wakefield are also battling for a top 8 spot, so I think it won,t become clear until the last game.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:05 pm  

This weekend is a bit of a difficult one to predict in terms of who will win what game.

Bradford have had a hot run of form recently and Cas are on the back of a CC loss. Bradford are rested and Cas will be going from 70K watching to 7K watching. There are plenty of factors there that could lead to an upset.

Widnes v Wigan - You would imagine again 2 points to wigan, but given Widnes' need to pick up points or risk dropping from the 8 and the fact that Wigan only snatched a draw previously from the team below Widnes. It's not a certainty.

Warrington v Huddersfield is a win win for Saints. Someone is going to lose points on us.

I think our game is the only thing we can control. Personally I hope we go out to hit them hard early on in the game. They should not have the same energy for a long hard game and if we rock them early, the mindset of winning the challenge cup may come in.

If we give them an early lead however, they may keep a roll on from this week.

One of the tougher weeks to predict in SL.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:09 pm  

St pete wrote:

No team backs a challenge cup final up well.

Leeds followed the CC final in 2011 by going unbeaten the rest of the season and winning the grand final.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:31 pm  

FlexWheeler wrote:

Leeds followed the CC final in 2011 by going unbeaten the rest of the season and winning the grand final.

I think he meant backing up a winning cup final appearance.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:35 pm  

FlexWheeler wrote:

Leeds followed the CC final in 2011 by going unbeaten the rest of the season and winning the grand final.

They lost that one though and so only had the GF to go for as they were also out of the reckoning for the LLS.

Re: Imperative to finish top : Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:25 pm  

Think saint leeds will be a dead rubber on friday judging by the celebrating leeds have done since saturday. The leeds players had the CC as number one priority this season and know they can come again from just about any position in the playoffs. Cant see saints nott winning on friday and no finishing top now.