After the first two rounds of the Super 8s the top eight teams find themselves in the same place as they did when we started but will they be at the end?
This weekend sees the third of the seven matches which will determine the four clubs with a chance of Grand Final glory. The gap between fourth and fifth is now wider than it was two weeks ago and the Dragons still have to play against the top three teams.
2016 looks all over for them if they lose at Hull this week.
Below them are the Tigers, who are in great form after victories against Hull and Wigan but I just can't see them winning all five of their remaining games. Even if they did, it would take a catastrophe for Keiron Cunningham's side to allow them to steal fourth place.
I have said it before several times this season, I find the Tigers to be the most entertaining team in this country. Their style of play is brilliant to watch. If injuries never occurred to any of the clubs in this sport, then they would be a top four team. The loss of Lynch, Roberts and Shenton has cost them a chance of glory this season.
The top four was the minimum requirement for the clubs at the start of the season. Now it is more of a race to finish first and lift the League Leaders Shield, or at least finish second and guarantee a home game in the play-offs. We have all been brought up to believe that the home ground advantage is important in this country, and to some it might be.
If you cast your mind back to last year you might recall that the two home teams in the play-off games for the Grand Final, Leeds and Wigan, were successful and the common perception is that it is an advantage to play in front of your own supporters.
But is it true?
Tony Smith recently implied that he would rest and rotate his squad between now and the end of the season. His team, like Hull, will also appear in the Cup Final at Wembley which is both physically and mentally taxing but I found this to be a strange comment. Surely he would want to finish top after Round 30, or at least second. It made me think, was I missing something here?
A lengthy debate with my good friend Rod Studd made me question the importance of 'home ground' advantage in rugby league. Is it relevant? Does it make any difference to the top teams in this country?
I decided to look back at the win/loss records of teams that finished in the top four places over the last five years. Rather than look at all of their games, I just looked at the matches when they played the other teams who finished inside the top four in the Super League.
Interestingly, there have been 67 matches, with 33 games won by the home team and 32 by the visitors. Two games ended as a draw. If we look just at this season, there has been a total of 13 matches played between the top four teams so far. Amazingly, the home team have won just three.
I don't have a theory to try to explain it, but the facts are that playing at home isn't as important as everyone thinks. What I guess is more important is to have your best players healthy and your team felling that they have a point to prove.