Phil Clarke: Awesome foursome competing for Grand Final place
Wednesday 23 September 2015 13:50, UK
Phil Clarke predicts who will win the league leaders' shield and contest this year's Grand Final...
So, go on, who wins it now? The Super 8s have given us an awesome foursome and it is fair to say that all four teams have a great chance of standing at Old Trafford as champions on October 10.
I've already written Leeds off. I said last week that I didn't think that they would win another game this season and it will take a massive turnaround in their performance to prove me wrong.
I know the Rhinos have lots of what we call 'champion players', ones who can rise to the big occasion and deliver when the pressure is on, but I don't think that they have enough left in them to do it in 2015.
Wigan have the best chance of finishing first after this last round of fixtures, although they face a Tigers team with nothing to lose, no pressure on them and a chance to finish the season on a real high.
Saints could replace Tom Cruise in the next Mission Impossible, they can never be written off.
With home advantage however, the Warriors will be too strong in my opinion and claim the league leaders' shield.
I think that the Giants will beat the Rhinos, which will mean by my reckoning that they will finish second and get a home game in the play-offs.
As the most consistent team over the last three seasons in Super League, the Giants know that they can beat all of the big teams, they just need to learn how to do it in the big games.
Twelve months ago they were humiliated when Wigan beat them 57-4 and I am fascinated to see how they cope this year.
Live Super League Super 8s
Saints survival skills
St Helens are the team that continues to amaze me. They win games when they shouldn't. They hang on when their opponents are all over them and find a way to survive when it looks as though there is no hope.
If you cast your mind back over the season you can find several games where they have picked up the points, when conventional wisdom would suggest that their opponents deserved them.
Saints have already beaten the Wolves three times this year, and you could say that in two of those Warrington were unlucky not to win, but that's my point. They seem to have created a belief, for themselves and perhaps their opponents in the last 20 years that more often than not, they win the tight finishes.
However, I don't think that they will beat the Wolves this week. At the end of last season Warrington won 39-12 at St Helens and I think that there is a chance of a repeat of this on Thursday.
I am guessing that the win over Wigan was an energy-sapping one and I am not sure that they can get back up for this.
In some ways it is the week after this that St Helens need to be ready for and it is possible that they could rest some players to prevent them from getting injured, although I doubt that this will be the case. They've won their last three and want to carry on winning.
All of the above might be a load of rubbish as nobody knows who will win this week and that is why it's being described as the best season ever. It is the greatest end to a season in my life.
The Giants are the form team of the Super 8s with five wins, Wigan are the favourites, Leeds have the trophies to show that they can do the business when it matters and Saints could replace Tom Cruise in the next Mission Impossible, they can never be written off.
Live Super League Super 8s
If my predicting skills are right, Wigan will host St Helens in the play-offs and Huddersfield will take on Leeds for the second consecutive week.
Sat here today, I think Wigan will play the Giants in Manchester and as I said in week one, I think that the Warriors will win.
Watch St Helens v Warrington live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Thursday from 7.30pm, Huddersfield v Leeds on Sky Sports 2 HD on Friday from 7.30pm, and Wigan v Castleford on Sky Sports Xtra on Friday from 7.55pm.
