Thursday 24 March 2016 16:40, UK
Warrington, Widnes and Wigan have showed the best form ahead of crunch weekend but which team can gain the most?
This is how Super League looks right now as we approach what is a significant Easter weekend.
Warrington, Widnes and Wigan have been the best teams so far and the rest of the competition will be hoping that the bonus weekend, offering four points, can kick-start their season and spring them into the next stage with confidence.
Widnes are the top try scorers with 42 so far, however, this next week will pose the toughest questions of the year.
It's worth mentioning that the team with the fewest tries are the current champions.
Leeds have scored just 18 tries in six games and will be hoping that the harder pitches and warmer weather brings them out of hibernation.
My prediction of Widnes not finishing in the top four could look a foolish one if the Vikings pick up four points with victories over Warrington and St Helens.
Some of their success has been down to the sensational start to the season that Joe Mellor has made. He's been absolutely brilliant to watch.
If he is fit, he'll go head-to-head in the half-backs with Kurt Gidley and Chris Sandow at 3pm on Easter Monday, They've claimed most of the headlines in their recent successes for Warrington.
Both have kicked tremendously and it's mainly down to them that they lead the way for tries from kicks. A quarter of all Warrington's tries have featured a kick-play. That's twice as many as other teams in the league.
My prediction of Widnes not finishing in the top four could look a foolish one if the Vikings pick up four points with victories over Warrington and St Helens.
It's a new dimension that wasn't there last year and it's proving difficult for teams to defend against.
The other aspect of Kirk Gidley's game that's making a difference is his goal kicking. He leads the charge with a plus 85 per cent success rate. That is ten per cent higher than the average Super League kicker.
As the competition gets closer we might start to see that this makes a significant difference.
This is my favourite time of the year. We've a lot of games on Sky Sports and I can't wait.
Juts as a footnote, I did the Men United walk with Jeff Stelling, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Bill Arthur this week and I've got absolutely huge respect for Jeff Stelling. We just did one of the ten days that he's doing on his march to Wembley and it was tough enough.
I wish him all the best in the remaining days. It was a pleasure to spend time with him.
