Ranking every club’s run-in by difficulty: St Helens toughest, Wakefield easiest…
Which Super League teams have the easiest run-ins to the play-offs?
It’s the run-in to the Super League play-offs, with ten rounds remaining in the 2025 regular season and a lot to play for.
Almost every club has something on the line with a third of the season left, and their run-ins are certainly contrasting in terms of difficulty.
Ahead of Round 18 getting underway later this week, here’s how every club’s final ten ranks alongside each other in terms of difficulty.
How does it work? Simple: we’ve added together the current league positions of every team’s ten remaining opponents – and the team with the lowest cumulative total is deemed to have the toughest run-in. The team with the highest number has the easiest.
So, starting with the team who the data suggests has the easiest run-in..
12. Wakefield Trinity
It’s good news for Trinity fans – already in the top six ahead of the run-in, their final ten is, statistically speaking, the easiest on paper.
They are the only team left who have two games against bottom side Salford – and they face 11th-placed Huddersfield on two occasions too.
They do face the top two in the final five rounds, but Trinity will be quietly confident they have enough winnable games to make the play-offs.
11. Leigh Leopards
Leigh’s immediate fixtures are daunting, granted, with three of the top five in their next four – but if they navigate those successfully they have a very favourable run-in.
They play the bottom three in their final five, as well as games against Warrington and St Helens. If they get to that point inside the six, they should make it.
=9. Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors
Two teams tied next with very different aspirations for the final ten weeks. Warrington’s goal is merely to get in the play-offs; Wigan’s is to finish inside the top two at the very least.
And they both have decent run-ins to potentially fulfil those goals. Warrington play the teams in 9th and 10th in their next two, with games against Huddersfield and Salford also still to come.
Just two of Wigan’s last ten are against teams inside the top four.
8. Leeds Rhinos
Brad Arthur’s side are now firmly in the running for the top two, and they have a run-in that should give them hope of making it, too.
They also play all of the bottom three in their final ten – but it’s impossible to look away from the final round: when they take on the side currently second, Wigan Warriors.
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=6. Hull KR and Salford Red Devils
Salford have little to play for across the rest of this season except pride. There are some winnable games for them though; two against Castleford and one against Huddersfield in Round 26 jump out.
As for Rovers, their next five are fairly favourable: with games against Catalans, Salford and Castleford in there. They then have a run of Wigan, Leeds and St Helens in consecutive weeks before finishing against teams in the mix for the top six: Hull FC, Wakefield and Warrington.
5. Huddersfield Giants
There’s not much on the line for the Giants across the remainder of 2025, in truth. Their win over Castleford last week will give them hope they can catch the Tigers, but they do have some tricky fixtures left.
=3. Castleford Tigers and Hull FC
Castleford have two games against Salford left in their final ten, the results of which will likely dictate the mood around Danny McGuire’s side more than any other games. The rest of their run-in is tough, with all of the top four still to play.
=1. Catalans Dragons and St Helens
Two teams are, based on the data, left with the trickiest run-ins: Catalans and St Helens.
The Saints will by slightly buoyed by two fixtures against Castleford but they have to play Leigh twice, as well as every other side sat above them at least once.
Catalans are drifting from the play-off race week by week; their run-in pretty much puts them as rank outsiders, with two games against Wigan among their final ten.
And in case you’re interested, here’s how we worked it all out!
