Well, we’re well into the business end of the season now. Round twenty-two kicks off this evening (Thursday, if I get this finished in time!) and that means that the clubs in the top seven positions are eyeing up their best route to Old Trafford. With that, I’m going to look at the remaining six games (seven for both Hull KR and Warrington) that the top seven have remaining, say who I think will win each game, and compile that into what I think the top six will be at the end. I’m judging this on current form, as I can’t possibly predict a variable like a string of injuries, or a sudden downturn in form, and where clubs will finish on the same points, I’ve put the team with the largest current points difference on top.

Leeds Rhinos – Currently 1st on 34 points

Remaining Fixtures: Wakefield (A), Leigh (H), York (A), St Helens (A), Wigan (H), Hull FC (H)

Leeds are the league’s current pacesetters and look like hot favourites for the League Leaders’ Shield, and probably a place at Old Trafford, but they still have a big task ahead of them. Four of their remaining six games come against teams in the top seven, and two of those are against their closest competitors in Wakefield and Wigan. Starting off with the Wakey game, I went for a Leeds win in my prediction this week, so I suppose I’d better stick to that, although I wouldn’t be too shocked if Wakefield beat the Rhinos at Belle Vue. It has all the hallmarks of a classic, and should be a closely-fought game.

Following Wakefield, the Rhinos host Leigh, who are a team whose form fluctuates from week to week, although they’re more or less on the upswing now. Nevertheless, I expect Leeds will get the win with the Headingley faithful behind them. Then they’re on the road for two weeks against York and St Helens, which are two more games in which I think they’ll claim victory. York love to play the spoiler, but I just don’t think they have it in their locker to beat this Leeds side, and Saints are a basket case at the moment, who will be lucky to make the top six, and isn’t that a strange thought?

That just leaves two fixtures on their home turf to close out the season. I think Wigan are the most likely team, other than Wakefield, to beat Leeds out of their last six, so I’m going for a Warriors victory there, before they close out the season with a routine victory over a Hull side who checked out of this season months ago, and will have probably lost even more interest come September.

Predicted Outcome: Five wins from six for a total of 44 points

Wakefield Trinity – 2nd on 32 points

Remaining fixtures: Leeds (H), St Helens (H), Wigan (A), York (H), Warrington (H), Leigh (A)

So, I’ve already covered the first game here, so I’ll move swiftly past that to the remaining five, and Wakefield don’t have the easiest remaining fixtures either, also due to come up against Saints and Wigan. They play Saints at home after Leeds, and I think home advantage sees them past the beleagured Red Vee; they won’t have such luck against Wigan, however, who they are due to face next at the Brick Community Stadium. Wigan will have their sights set on a treble, and need to be almost perfect to achieve that, so I believe the Warriors will prevail there.

Next up, they have the visit of the York Knights, and while Mark Applegarth’s men have proved to be tricky customers this season, I think Wakefield will have enough answers for a comfortable win. The following game against Warrington is a tough one to call, to be sure. I’m going to give the edge to the Trin because of home advantage, and the intense schedule that awaits Warrington in August.

Rounding out Wakefield’s regular season is a trip across the Pennines to Leigh, who could very well still be competing for the last play-off spot on the last day of the season, which makes this game an intriguing prospect. Wakefield will probably need to win to secure second place, if things go the way I’ve planned them to so far, also. It’s a toss-up, but despite home advantage, I’m going with Wakefield simply because they are the more consistent team in 2026.

Predicted Outcome: Four wins from six for a total of forty points

Wigan Warriors – 3rd on 32 points

Remaining fixtures: Toulouse (H), Bradford (A), Wakefield (H), Hull KR (H), Leeds (A), Catalans (H)

Wigan have well and truly rallied over the last few months from a disappointing run of form earlier in the season, and are, arguably, the form team in the competition. Right out of the gate, I can see them winning their first two games at a canter, with no offence meant to either Toulouse or Bradford, but they’ll struggle to compete with the in-form Warriors. As previously mentioned, I think they’ll edge past Wakefield, and I think they’ll take full advantage of playing a Hull KR team fresh off playing three games in ten days to romp to a victory over my beloved Robins, too.

I’ve already covered the Leeds game, which just leaves Catalans, who will already be on the beach after yet another disappointing season. It’s easy to envision this Wigan side winning all six of their remaining games, although it won’t be an easy ride, I’m sure.

Predicted Outcome: Six wins from six for a total of 44 points

Warrington Wolves – 4th on 28 points

Remaining Fixtures: Bradford (A), York (A), Hull KR (A), Huddersfield (H), Hull FC (A), Wakefield (A), Toulouse (H)

Warrington are a team who are difficult to predict in 2026. Despite sitting in fourth, they’ve blown hot and cold across the season as injuries have taken their toll. Speaking of injuries, that’s something the Bradford Bulls don’t have a shortage of; they’ll be lucky to have seventeen fit players to field this weekend, so that’s likely to be an open goal for Warrington. I imagine they’ll have enough to get past York away to start their packed schedule of three games in under two weeks.

Speaking of, the game that has caused this fixture pile-up, Hull KR vs Warrington, will be an interesting one to watch unfold. I’m giving the edge to Hull KR because of home advantage, and having more of their first-choice squad (presumably) available, but I’m by no means confident in that assessment. However, I am confident in forecasting two back-to-back wins after the Hull KR game, with the bottom two sides, Huddersfield and Hull FC, due to play the Wire. Neither team should trouble them much.

That just leaves Wakefield away, which I’ve already said will be won by Wakefield, and Toulouse at home, who I think they should beat handily. All of this rests on the fragility of Warrington’s squad, as they seem to have one of the shallower squads in the top six.

Predicted Outcome: five wins from seven for a total of 38 points

Hull KR – 5th on 26 points

Remaining fixtures: Castleford (A), Catalans (H), Warrington (H), Toulouse (H), Wigan (A), Huddersfield (H), St Helens (A)

Rovers’ game against Castleford has certainly taken on a new dimension, given the goings-on surrounding Ryan Carr this week. Despite Cas being as easy to predict as the lottery numbers, I’m sticking with a Rovers win from my earlier predictions. In fact, I think Rovers will go on a winning run over the next few weeks; they may have that fixture congestion this month, but I think the schedule has fallen kindly in giving them Catalans and Toulouse either side of the Warrington game. All this is to say that I think they will win the first four games of the seven remaining…

Then they will hit a brick wall with ‘Wigan Warriors’ daubed on it. There’s no two ways around this; facing Wigan after three games in ten days is brutal stuff, especially a Wigan side who are on such blistering form. It will take a genuinely special uptick in form to beat Wigan at the Brick come the end of August.

To close out the season, they have the welcome relief of Huddersfield at Craven Park. The Giants are playing with a bit more pride now, but Rovers will need to be back on the horse to push for a top four spot, so I’m going for a Robins win. I’m also going for a Rovers win away at St Helens as well, spoiler for later, but I think the Saints will be out of top six contention by this game, so it’ll almost be a free hit against a checked-out opposition.

Predicted Outcome: six wins from seven for a total of 38 points

Leigh Leopards – 6th on 26 points

Remaining fixtures: York (H), Leeds (A), Bradford (H), Huddersfield (A), St Helens (H), Wakefield (A)

We’re getting to the point where I’ve already covered some matches earlier on, so these paragraphs may be a bit more concise than earlier ones; however, I haven’t covered the Leigh-York game yet. Leigh will win. There we go, all covered.

I’ve already said that I think they’ll lose at Headingley, but they will probably have more joy over Leeds’ closest neighbours, the Bradford Bulls, the week afterwards, as well as against Huddersfield the week following that.

Results could set up what is more or less a straight shoot-out in the penultimate round between Leigh and Saints; the winner takes sixth spot, and it’s here where I think it’s confirmed that St Helens will miss out on the play-offs for the first time in the Super League era. However, according to my predictions here, Leigh’s top six status would have already been confirmed. Leigh’s loss against Wakefield on the final day will therefore have no bearing on their play-off status.

Predicted Outcome: four wins from six for a total of 34 points

St Helens – 7th on 24 points

Remaining fixtures: Hull FC (H), Wakefield (A), Castleford (H), Leeds (A), Leigh (A), Hull KR (H)

There are only two games for St Helens that I haven’t already covered, that being their games against Hull and Castleford. I think they’ll win both games, but lose the remaining games against fellow top seven clubs, missing out on the play-offs in the process. It was almost inconceivable just a few years ago that Saints would end up in such a position, but there we are.

Predicted Outcome: two wins from six for a total of 28 points

Predicted Final Top Seven:

1. Leeds Rhinos. 44pts*
2. Wigan Warriors. 44pts*
3. Wakefield Trinity. 40pts
4. Hull KR. 38pts*
5. Warrington Wolves. 38pts*
6. Leigh Leopards. 34pts
7. St Helens. 28pts

*= contingent on points difference. Hull KR’s is currently superior.

There we have it. That’s how I think the rest of the season will pan out. For those keeping track, that means the play-offs will look like this:

Elimination Play-Offs:

Wakefield Trinity vs Leigh Leopards

Hull KR vs Warrington Wolves

Semi-Finals:

Leeds Rhinos vs Hull KR/Warrington/Leigh

Wigan Warriors vs Wakefield/Warrington/Hull KR

I’m not going to stick my neck out and predict how the play-offs will pan out, as there are simply too many variables to make a good guess from this far out. Of course, the same could be said of much of this exercise. After all, all it would take is a few injuries to key players or one bad performance in a game you’re expected to win, and your run-in is turned on its head. Still, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little exercise in speculation, and feel free to send me your own picks for the top six!

Written by Nathan Major (Site editor & Hull KR fan)