WARRINGTON Wolves head into the Super 8s in prime position for a semi-finals spot.

After the conclusion to this weekend’s final round of regular fixtures, The Wire know they will host third-placed Wigan Warriors, fourth-placed St Helens, sixth-placed Castleford Tigers, seventh-placed Widnes Vikings as well as visit first-placed Hull FC, fifth-placed Catalans Dragons and eighth-placed Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the second phase.

And Tony Smith’s side will do so with a seven-point cushion over Les Catalans, who lost 32-4 at Widnes Vikings today.

This means Wolves, just one point behind front runners Hull in the hunt for the League Leaders' Shield, will have to lose as many as three and draw one of their seven fixtures in the Super 8s in order for any team to come into the reckoning of pushing them out of the all-important top four.

And that is based on Catalans, the only likely challengers to the leading quartet, not dropping any points themselves

It is the top four who will go into the semi finals on the last Thursday and Friday nights in September for the right to contest the Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday, October 8.

The dates and times of Super 8s fixtures will be confirmed on Wednesday morning, with the first games scheduled for the weekend of August 4-7 and the concluding matches taking place on the weekend of September 22-25.

St Helens, Catalans, Castleford and Widnes get a break from matches next weekend while Wolves, Wakefield, Wigan and Hull FC contest the Challenge Cup semi finals.

By the time Wolves face Wakefield at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday they will know whether it is Hull or Wigan, who meet on Friday night, awaiting the winners in the final at Wembley on Saturday, August 27.