You've played some big games so far this season, but how much bigger is this one at home to Leeds Rhinos tomorrow night?

It’s massive, isn’t it?

We spoke straight after our win at Hull about the importance of our next two, and hopefully three, games we’ve still to play this year.

Obviously, the chance to win the Super League Leaders Shield and secure a home semi-final play-off spot makes it hugely significant.

But this game will also be very good practice for the high-intensity, big occasion to follow a week later.

In the short term, however, it’s making sure we’re as well prepared as we possibly can be for Leeds tomorrow.

We have to make sure we start the game well, because we know that’s something Leeds do well, especially against us.

If we get things right early on and continue to do the right things throughout the game, then we know we’ll give ourselves an excellent chance.

How good is it for the competition that there’s so much more for all the top-four play-off sides to play for in the final week of the Super 8s?

I’m sure that when the powers-that-be put this competition together this is what they were dreaming of.

St Helens could temporarily go top if they win at home to Warrington tonight, while us, Leeds and Wigan will clinch the Super League Leaders Shield tomorrow night. It doesn’t get much better than that.

This is the way it should always be, and it’s fair to say we all want more of this in the future.

If you look at your record in the last 19 Super League fixtures, it’s the best in the competition, with 14 wins, two draws and just three defeats. How important is that at this stage of the season?

Hopefully, it proves vitally important.

It’s crucial to have good momentum and confidence behind you, and that’s exactly what we’ve got at the moment.

If you look at the boys in training, they’re full of energy and beans, and ready to make sure they take that out onto the field tomorrow night.

It’s clear this group enjoy spending time together, and that’s reflected in the way everyone is prepared to work so hard for each other out on the field.

We talked at the start of the year about the importance of getting the effort-based side of what we do right. We’ve done that.

So now’s the time for that effort to go through the roof and for the talent to really shine through, because talent is something this squad has in abundance.

We know that if we continue to work hard for each over the next few weeks, then this group will reap their reward.

Jermaine McGillvary collected all the major awards at the club’s player of the year night the other night. Was that fully justified?

Yes it was.

In pre-season, the focus for Jerry was on the effort-based stuff, and he couldn’t have accepted that challenge more successfully.

His attitude and self-belief has grown and grown, and he now genuinely believes he’s a good player.

We used to talk in the past about how Jerry had the potential to be a rep player, and he was having none of it.

But with the confidence he now possesses he genuinely knows he has the ability, which I always knew he had.

Whether he does get his rep call for England remains to be seen, but the fact we’re talking about it shows he’s a good player and must be doing something right.

And he’s also shown he’s not just a one-season wonder, either, because to score 20 tries in a season for three seasons on the trot isn’t the sign of a winger without any ability.

You mention Jerry getting the England call. What about the prospect of an England wing-centre partnership of Jerry and Leroy Cudjoe?

There’s no doubt they’re a very good combination, aren’t they?

They know exactly what each other’s doing and are always helping each other out.

Again, Leroy’s another player who’s level of ability is ridiculous. He’s without doubt one of the best players in his position.

We’ve managed to get one or two little things out of his game and got the ball in his hands a bit quicker, and it’s reaping its rewards.

He’s doing well, Jerry’s doing well, and so are the others on our right side, like Jamie Ellis and Jack Hughes.

So with so many players in your squad playing so well, do you expect to see a healthy number of them in the Super League Dream Team, which is unveiled next Monday?

We’ll have to wait an see.

But if you get picked, it’s good for the player and good for the team.

Unfortunately, we still seem to be regarded as unfashionable, don’t we? That could count against us.

Everyone’s talking about us going under the radar – which is a little disrespectful, to be honest – so in that sense I hope nobody gets in the Dream Team.

That would at least give us something extra to bite on at the most important time of the year.