For the first half of the season, champions Leeds Rhinos seemed to be galloping towards a successful title defence, but since June last year's runners-up St Helens have appeared to be the unstoppable force.

With five games to go, it is still tight at the top and any one of three teams could realistically claim the league leaders' shield, but on current form Saints are going to take some stopping.

Saints' remaining league fixtures see them visit Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on Sunday, followed by games against Warrington Wolves (home), Harlequins (away), Huddersfield Giants (away) and Wigan Warriors (home).

Even with the distraction of a looming cup final appearance, they will be expected to win all five of those, which would obviously secure top spot and leave them just one more victory away from a third successive Grand Final.

The Merseyside outfit's 26-16 win over Rhinos in last Saturday's first Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final was their 16th straight success in all competitions, a staggering record.

They have been scoring points for fun and their pivots, Leon Pryce, Sean Long and Keiron Cunningham, are in sparkling form, backed by a pack who look increasingly dominant by the week.

They are also close to full strength and are getting the 50-50 decisions – such as the penalty against Lee Smith for not playing the ball correctly in the semi-final. This broke Rhinos' momentum at the only stage of the contest when they were on the front foot.

Of the two teams chasing, Les Catalans Dragons – three points adrift – actually look in better shape to challenge Saints for top spot than Leeds, who trail on points difference, but don't write the Rhinos off just yet.

They are still the only team who seem capable of matching Saints in a one-off game. The last two meetings between the sides have gone Saints' way, but have been their only close matches during the latter part of their tremendous hot streak.

Leeds went into the semi-final without three key players (Brent Webb, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Ryan Bailey) and two more (Rob Burrow and Clinton Toopi) were hurt during the game, but they hung in well and only went down by four tries to three.