Adelaide has - at least temporarily - dropped to fourth and Wellington fifth, but a winner at Hutt Recreation Ground on Saturday could finish the round in second place, depending on the result in the Victory v Glory clash at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
That's how tight it is at the top, with Perth leading on 36 points, having played 19 games, followed by Sydney on 35 (20 games), with Victory (18 games), Adelaide (19 games) and Wellington (19 games) all on 33.
Adelaide will drop out of the top four for the first time this season if it loses to Phoenix, which is revelling in the announcement during the week that coach Ernie Merrick has re-signed with the club for three years, along with assistant coach Chris Greenacre.
Merrick, the former two-time championship-winning coach with Victory, has led the Wellington revival and defender Michael Boxall echoes the sentiments of the entire squad when he says the Scotsman is the man who can lead the club to glory.
"I think for the club to keep Ernie was a no-brainer, really," Boxall said.
"You only have to look at what he's done since he came in. Obviously, his first season was a bit of a transition. You could see bits of what he was trying to do, but then injuries cut into that.
"But now he's got a full squad with more of the players he wanted and it's exciting times at present and definitely for the next three years, to think what he can do and what the team is capable of doing under his coaching. Ernie and Chris are doing a great job.
"I think a championship is definitely within reach soon. It would be hard not to be optimistic about bringing the title to Wellington in the next couple of years or so."
Whether that happens as early as this season remains to be seen but the result of the game against Adelaide will indicate what Phoenix is capable of as the top five teams put the squeeze on each other and the pressure mounts.
Playing at right-back, Boxall was a key figure in Wellington's 3-2 win over Victory last weekend, reacting quickly to an opportunity and beating a defender before taking the ball from halfwayto create the tap in for Nathan Burns toscore the winning goal.
Boxall had earlier gone forward for a Roly Bonevacia free kick and headed in to make it 2-2.
He has played in plenty of teams where he didn't have the freedom to try to attack from defensive positions - often as a central defender - and is enjoying the opportunity to get forward from right-back under Merrick.
"Yeah, that's so true," Boxall said. "He loves seeing us use the football and committing numbers forward.
"To have the licence to go forward, for me that usually doesn't happen, so your eyes light up when you get the opportunity.
"This is the first team I've played in where I've got the freedom to go forward.
"I watch Nathan Burns and Michael McGlinchey do their thing up front and it's exciting to see, and if you can play a part in getting the ball to them in good positions it's very satisfying.
"Ernie is a very calm individual, with a very reassuring nature. He doesn't get overly emotional either way, whether it's a winning goal in a big game like last weekend or a loss.
"He encourages us to play good, positive, attacking football and he understands you're going to make mistakes along the way and you can't control everything. He's a very good coach. He'll correct players, but he gives you that opportunity."
Boxall said the win over Victory, which was Wellington's first in Melbourne against that club after nine losses and three draws, had given the players an enormous boost in confidence.
"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "We were lucky not to go behind by a few more in the first half but the history of the club against Victory hasn't been great and it's always in the back of your mind and gives you that added motivation to get it done for the first time.
"So when we did get it done the boys were over the moon at the result. We were pretty stoked.
"We were playing well going into the Asian Cup break, but coming out of it we stumbled a bit and had picked up only two points out of 12. We needed to win against Victory and it's done wonders for us."
