Champions St Helens marched on at the top of the Betfred Super League with a 42-12 win over battling Leeds Rhinos at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
Two tries from former Rhinos favourite Konrad Hurrell, along with further scores from Alex Walmsley and Regan Grace, helped Saints establish control although Harry Newman and Bodene Thompson kept Leeds in contention in Thursday's encounter.
The Rhinos had a Sam Walters try ruled out by the video referee and Saints began to stretch away when Agnatius Paasi scored.
Joe Batchelor, Dan Norman and Walmsley added to Saints' tally in the closing stages and Leeds' frustration was compounded when Zane Tetevano was sent off.
Saints' sixth successive win temporarily stretched their lead to six points but second-placed Wigan Warriors cut it back to four with a comfortable 40-6 home win over Toulouse the following night.
Abbas Miski was their star performer, scoring four of the Warriors' seven tries including a first-half hat-trick.
Liam Farrell, Bevan French and Jai Field also got on the scoresheet and Harry Smith kicked six goals. Bottom side Toulouse's consolation came from Dominique Peyroux.
Catalans Dragons dropped to fourth as a Danny Richardson drop goal in golden-point extra time condemned them to a dramatic 17-16 defeat at Castleford Tigers on Sunday.
There was little between the sides at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle with Cheyse Blair and Michael McIlorum trading tries in the first half.
Ryan Hampshire gave the Tigers the lead after the break but Sam Tomkins and Arthur Romano replied for the Dragons. Extra time was required after Derrell Olpherts levelled the scores once again and Richardson had the final word after both sides missed opportunities.
Huddersfield Giants leapfrogged the Dragons to go third with a 38-10 win at Hull KR.
Leroy Cudjoe claimed a hat-trick of tries and Will Pryce scored 14 points with a try and five goals. Luke Yates, Ricky Leutele and Jermaine McGillvary also went over for the Giants, who had led only 10-4 at the interval.
All Rovers had to show for their efforts were tries from Matt Parcell and Matty Storton.
Joe Burgess also scored a hat-trick as Salford Red Devils boosted their survival chances with a stunning 74-10 hammering of Wakefield Trinity at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Ryan Brierley, Deon Cross and Ken Sio all scored braces while Marc Sneyd kicked 11 goals in a ruthless, 13-try demolition of Trinity.
Tim Lafai, Brodie Croft, Kallum Watkins and Sitaleki Akauola were the other Reds try-scorers as Salford recorded their highest Betfred Super League points total.
That points-fest was in stark contrast to what was served up at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday, as Warrington Wolves edged out Hull FC 4-0 in only the second tryless Super League game. The only points came from two Stefan Ratchford penalties in the second half.
