Langtree Park was the venue for the first of the weekends crucial final round of Super League Super 8s.

The four teams for the semi-finals were already known but each could still finish in any order, as only a single point separated the top four at the start of play.



The Warrington Wolves were out of the equation and had nothing to lose in their last game of the season.

A win for the visitors would condemn Saints to fourth spot, barring a massive win for the Rhinos at the Giants on Friday night.

A win for the home side would put them top of the pile and give them a chance of a home semi-final.

Both sides meeting in tonight's clash at Langtree Park had their eyes fixed firmly on top spot.

For the Warriors, a win tonight would see them two points clear at the top, but should the home side take the two points then they would be within one point of both the Warriors and the Rhinos with one game left to the semi-finals.



The 'original' derby stage was set for a cracker and the two sides didn't fail to deliver as they served up a high-intensity humdinger of a game where no quarter was asked or given.

It was fourth against fifth in the opening game of the fifth round of the Super 8's as Castleford Tigers welcomed St.

Helens to the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.



For the home side it was the last chance to give themselves a chance of a play-off berth, however slim, but a win for Saints would guarantee them a top four position with two games left to play.

Castleford have lost two on the bounce while the Saints were flying high after a great win over the Leeds Rhinos last Friday.

The fourth placed side in the Super League Super 8s, the Huddersfield Giants, were the visitors to Langtree Park to take on third placed St Helens.

Thanks to their sensational defence, the tightest in the competition, the Giants just needed a win to jump above their hosts on points difference.



The Saints were still smarting from their three consecutive losses to Leeds, the Dragons and Hull FC while the Giants had a confident home win over the Catalans Dragons last week after losing their opening Super 8s game to Wigan Warriors.

Saints had been the victors on both previous meetings in 2015, but both times by very close margins.

The final game of the opening weekend of Super League Super 8s saw third placed St.

Helens travel to a rain soaked south of France to take on eighth placed Catalans Dragons.



Both sides were missing several first-teamers through injuries and while Saints were the favourites, you can never count against the Dragons when they are playing in-front of their vociferous and partisan support.



What would unfold was a scrappy eighty minutes full of controversy, errors, and three tries apiece.

Tonight's difference would be the boot of Scott Dureau.

When Leeds Rhinos and St Helens came out of the hat in the semi-final the build up instantly began to the showdown between Super League's top and second placed clubs at a packed Halliwell-Jones Stadium in Warrington.



The Rhinos had won both league encounters so far this season but Saints were rejuvenated with a good run to the end of the first part of the Super League season, having won four out of their last five matches.



The prize on offer was a trip to Wembley for the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup Final to play either Hull KR or Warrington Wolves, who meet tomorrow lunchtime at Headingley Stadium.

For St Helens it was the chance to go top of the pile, for Warrington Wolves it was their chance to keep alive their hopes of a top four finish and put an end to their mathematical fears of dropping out of the eight.



This is the third meeting between the sides in 2015 and the Saints are looking to complete the whitewash having won 32-24 at Langtree Park back in March, and 20-16 in Newcastle.



Warrington's last home game was the masterly win over Wigan a fortnight ago and they were up against a Saints side showing patchy form with two wins in their last four.

After last nights bloockbuster at the DW which saw the Warriors triumph in a last minute win over the Rhinos, Langtree Park played host to third against fourth as Saints took on the Huddersfield Giants.



A win for Saints, who have only lost once to the Giants in St Helens in the Super League era, would see them within one point of the league leaders.

A win for the Giants would see them go above Saints into third thanks to a superior points difference.



Saints were slight favourites with the bookies with the Giants getting a six point start on the coupon.

The stage was set for another cracker.

There can be little argument as to the game of round twenty as the top placed Rhinos took on second placed St Helens at a 'Full House' Headingley Carnegie Stadium.



The Rhinos haven't beaten Saints a Headingley in a weekly round game for five years but were runaway 41-16 winners at Langtree Park earlier in the season.

A win for Saints would see them back to the top of the table, but should the Headingley outfit secure the two points it would almost guarantee them going into the split sitting pretty at the top of the table.

With Hull KR, Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves already in the hat for this afternoons Ladbrokes Challenge Cup semi-final draw, this afternoon it was the turn of St Helens and Widnes Vikings to vie for that last place.



Super Leagues second place side had a home game against the team nine places below them with the bookies making the home side the clear favourites.

Denis Betts would have spent the time since the draw readying his side for this match and they would come to Langtree Park intending to make progress.



Make no mistake, Saints were embarking on the post-Wellens era with a tough encounter against a side who could upset the pundits and take the spoils.

The game of the Super League weekend saw the league leaders St Helens travel to the Mend-A-Hose Jungle to take on a Castleford Tigers side unbeaten in their last three games.



After humbling league leaders Leeds Rhinos last Thursday it was their second chance in a week to claim the scalp of the side at the top of the table.



But Saints would be a tough prospect, still flying high from their win over the old enemy Wigan Warriors, last Friday night.

Sunday's game two of the Newcastle Magic Weekend was the one that looked the most appealing on paper, as Saints looked to regain second spot and go just a point behind the league leading Rhinos.

They were up against the 'Jekyll and Hyde' Warrington Wolves who needed to win by forty-five points or more to overtake the Giants and jump into fourth spot.



The sun had made a re-appearance after an overcast first match, but it was anyone's guess as to which of these two great sides it would shine most brightly upon.



With Richard Silverwood in the middle, we lit the blue touch paper and sat back awaiting the fireworks.

The game of Round eleven saw first travel to second as the Rhinos made the trip to Langtree Park, not their happiest of hunting grounds, to take on Kieron Cunningham's Saints.



The rest of the league was rooting for the Saints, to try and bring the Rhinos back to the pack, as a win tonight for the Blue and Amber would see them six points clear and with one hand on the league leaders shield.



Both sides were carrying large numbers of injured absentees but there was still plenty of potential for them to serve up a feast.

The 'Original' derby saw the oldest enemies clash at the DW Stadium as Wigan Warriors hosted St Helens in a brutal game which would see no quarter asked or given.



Both sides were without key personnel, but it was the Saints who had been hit hardest and who would be trying out an experimental half-back pairing in Turner and Hohaia after Burns and Wilkin were both ruled out through injury.



Over twenty-four thousand were packed into the stands and the teams were greeted by a deafening roar and a sea of cherry, red and white as they entered the arena.

Wigan needed the points to keep in touch with the top four and Saints needed to win by more than twenty-three points to regain top spot from Leeds Rhinos.

The Champions took their unbeaten record on the road to East Hull to try and secure their first away victory against Hull KR after seven successive defeats.

The home side were looking to carry on where they had left off in defeating the Warriors and the Dragons, after losing the season opener to the Rhinos in a game they led on two occasions.



Few gave KR a chance against the league leaders, but from the outset the Robins players showed that they had the belief that they could get the two points and upset the bookies and the pundits.

The Champions were looking to make it six from six at the start of a Superleague XX but were up against a side they'd not beaten at home in the last five attempts, and who had demolished the Rhinos unbeaten record last weekend.



Warrington were unchanged to celebrate Tony Smiths six year tenure and they arrived at Langtree Park in the knowledge that a win by thirty-four points or more would see them into top spot, above their hosts.



The stage was set for a classic.

Saints were looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season as they travelled the M62 to take on the Wakefield Wildcats, who themselves have had an impressive start to the season.

History was on Saints side as they'd triumphed in nine of the last ten meetings between the sides.



Saints needed to win by fourteen or more to go back above the Rhinos into top spot, but a win for Wakefield would see them up to third in the Super League XX table, snapping at Saints heels.

There were a total of seventeen incidents reviewed by the disciplinary panel after a rough and tough round three of Super League XX.

The incidents were fairly evenly distributed amongst the six matches but only three have resulted in charges, and all three of those came from the same game.



It appears that Friday nights game between Saints and the Castleford Tigers was the most indisciplined and it will see two Saints and one Tigers player up before the the tribunal on Tuesday evening.

The Champions have spent the week licking their wounds after last Sunday's World Club Challenge 39-0 drubbing at the hands of South Sydney Rabbitohs.

It was a great chance to get back on the horse as Castleford Tigers came to town on the back of five successive losses, and not having beaten Saints in the last fourteen attempts.



It had been a fast turnaround for Saints, just five days after that draining game against the best of Australia.

The visitors had almost two weeks to prepare as they looked to get their 2015 season started with a first two pointer.

The SOLD OUT signs were up at Langtree Park as St Helens welcomed the South Sydney Rabbitohs for the World Club Challenge, the game to determine the best club side in the World.



Expectations were high of a great game and the bookies had made the Saints slight favourites to lift the title, the first time a Super League club would have been successful since the Leeds Rhinos beat Manly in 2012.



Saints were unchanged from the side that thrashed Salford Red Devils last weekend but Michael Maguires’ Souths were coming into the game full of determination that they would be returning to Australia with the trophy.