St Helens secured a top-two spot in the Betfred Super League with an emphatic 40-6 victory over Leeds on Friday.
The defending champions bounced back from their agonising golden-point loss to leaders Catalans at Magic Weekend by running in seven tries in a convincing performance at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
Forward Morgan Knowles touched down twice while Regan Grace, Jack Welsby, Tommy Makinson, Alex Walmsley and Sione Mata'utia also got on the scoresheet as Saints dealt a blow to Leeds' play-off hopes.
The Rhinos' loss allowed Hull KR – their opponents next week – to climb above them to fifth with a thrilling 26-19 win over another play-off rival in Castleford on Saturday.
Rovers trailed 13-12 at the interval and conceded again soon after but hit back with quickfire tries from Matt Parcell and Kane Linnett, adding to two earlier Mikey Lewis scores.
The downside for Rovers was the loss of Ryan Hall with a shoulder injury that is likely to rule him out of the play-offs, should Tony Smith's side make it.
Their fate will be determined in the next round of fixtures with Rovers, Leeds and seventh-placed Castleford – who face Warrington – vying for the last two places.
Fourth-placed Wigan guaranteed their play-off berth with a 10-0 win at Hull that finally ended the Black and Whites' chances.
After a scoreless first half at the KCOM Stadium, Jake Bibby and Zak Hardaker touched down for the Warriors.
Catalans were presented with the League Leaders Shield as they hosted Huddersfield at the Gilbert Brutus Stadium but were unable to celebrate with another victory as they went down 30-18.
The Dragons, without Sam Tomkins, Sam Kasiano and Micky McIlorum did race into an 18-0 lead with two tries from Matt Whitley and another from Mathieu Laguerre but the Giants fought back to spoil the party.
Josh Jones, Louis Senior, Olly Ashall-Bott, Jack Cogger and Matty English crossed as Ian Watson's side scored 30 unanswered points.
The game of the weekend saw third-placed Warrington beat Salford 20-19 with a golden-point drop goal from George Williams at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The Wolves led at half-time after tries from Matty Ashton, Matt Davis and Josh Charnley but a Ken Sio double kept the Red Devils in contention. Tui Lolohea's converted try then put the visitors ahead but a Gareth Widdop goal levelled matters and Williams clinched victory with his second drop goal after trading one-pointers with Lolohea in normal time.
Bottom side Leigh claimed a rare victory in the weekend's final game, beating Wakefield 26-18 with a Ryan Brierley hat-trick.
Brierley also added three goals in an impressive display while Adam Sidlow and Sam Stone also scored for the Centurions.
