Intriguing survival battles looms in Super League – Peter Smith

It’s not often Wakefield Trinity fans cheer Leeds Rhinos, but they will be doing so on Saturday.

The fixture at Toulouse Olympique is a big one for Rhinos who could, depending on other results, be only one point outside Betfred Super League’s top-six by the end of the weekend.

But it is even more significant for Trinity as victory for Toulouse would leave them, for a day at least, bottom of the table.

Trinity need Rhinos to maintain their recent winning run and end Toulouse’s.

Should that happen, Wakefield will travel to Hull KR the following afternoon with the opportunity to put a four-point gap between themselves and the French side.

Hull KR would then be back in Trinity’s sights and drawn into the relegation battle themselves, along with possibly Warrington Wolves and Salford Red Devils, depending on their results this weekend.

Those teams will also feel a lot happier if Rhinos can break Toulouse’s momentum, given there’s only six points between 12th and eighth place with nine matches still to play.

Even Leeds, though their sights are set on qualifying for the play-offs, aren’t out of the woods. Following successive big wins, during which they’ve scored 96 points, Leeds appear to have turned a corner, but the fact they are now seventh illustrates how quickly things can change.

After Saturday, they have a home game against high-flying Wigan and then return to France to face Catalans Dragons.

Toulouse’s next two are against Salford and Hull, both at Stade Ernest Wallon, so it’s not impossible they might be only a point behind Leeds in three weeks’ time.

Wakefield need to win three more games than Leeds over the final third of the season and Toulouse four.

Realistically, given the way Rhinos have played in the past couple of weeks, that’s unlikely, but there’s certainly plenty of life left in the competition, at both ends of the ladder.

The top four have pulled clear, but Wigan, Huddersfield and Catalans all still have hopes of finishing runners-up to St Helens.

Saints will probably finish top, but it isn’t guaranteed. Only four points separate fifth-placed Hull from Hull KR in 10th and the bottom seven could yet be battling for either a play-off spot or to avoid the drop come the final few rounds.

Wakefield are the team with most to worry about, following their catastrophic Magic Weekend loss to Toulouse, who have a better points difference, four days ago.

The manner of the defeat was even worse than the 38-26 scoreline, having the dual-effect of demoralising Wakefield and breathing new life into Olympique.

It also proved to Toulouse they can win a Super League match in England.

Trinity shouldn’t have lost from 20-4 ahead at half-time, but what followed was, even by Wakefield’s standards, a spectacular collapse.

Whether Wakefield can get their heads up after that remains to be seen, but if not their 23-year stint in the top-flight will come to an end.

After this weekend, their next four games are against Saints, Castleford, Catalans and Wigan and, based on form so far this season, it’s unlikely they’ll win any of those.

They then visit Hull and have a home match against Hull KR, both of which are winnable, followed by trips to St Helens and Huddersfield Giants.

The most optimistic Wakefield fan might give them three wins from their remaining nine.

Toulouse have been consistently competitive at home, but will probably need to pick up a win on an opponent’s ground, which they haven’t done so far this year.

After their next three games in France, only one of Toulouse’s final six is on home soil, against Catalans.

They travel to Hull KR, Warrington and Wigan before that and Hull and St Helens afterwards. It will probably go to the final round, but at the moment, Toulouse look to have more wins in them.