BEN Flower could step out of the cauldron and into the fire next season when his six months ban ends two days before Wigan Warriors entertain Warrington Wolves at the DW Stadium.

The Wigan prop, disgraced in the Grand Final on October 11 for a punch on St Helens' laid-out half back Lance Hohaia, will be eligible when the fierce 'derby' rivals meet in a televised fixture on Thursday, April 16.

Before that, Wolves will open the new era - with the 12-team format that includes promotion and relegation - at home to Salford Red Devils on Sunday, February 8.

Despite calls to end the hectic Easter schedule, the fixtures remain and Wolves will be away to Widnes Vikings on Maunday Thursday, April, 2, before hosting Castleford Tigers on Monday, April 6, when the kick off time is yet to be confirmed for television purposes.

All of Wolves' clashes with Wigan and St Helens will be Thursday night games.

After Warrington have played all 11 rivals home and away - as well as the Magic Weekend clash against a yet to be named opponent at St James' Park in Newcastle on May 30-31- they will enter the new Super 8s.

A top-eight finish will hand them seven more games against top-eight rivals in the bid to reach the play-offs semi final, but a finish in the bottom four will put them in to the Qualifiers with the top four teams from the Kingstone Press Champion ship.

In the Super 8s Super League, the points earned during the regular season will stand and each team will play each other once to determine a top four. In the semi-finals, first will play fourth and second will play third with the winners heading to Old Trafford, Manchester to compete in the Grand Final on Saturday October 10.

As they are drawn from two different competitions, all eight teams in the Qualifiers will have their points totals from the season wiped to form a new mini-league. Clubs who finished ninth and tenth in Super League and first and second in the Championship will play four home games and 11th and 12th and third and fourth, respectively will play three home games.

Once all the games have been played, the top three Qualifiers will be automatically promoted whilst the clubs finishing fourth and fifth will contest the ‘Million Pound Game’, a one-off fixture at the home of the fourth-placed club on Saturday October 3 to determine the last place in Super League for 2016.