Daryl Powell addresses Salford cancellation as lack of ‘communication’ questioned
Wakefield Trinity head coach Daryl Powell
Wakefield coach Daryl Powell insists they are not worried about the prospect of a second game with Salford being scrapped at the end of the season: but admitted Trinity would have welcomed more communication with the Red Devils on the cancellation of last week’s game.
Trinity found out at incredibly short notice that Salford, amid their ongoing financial crisis, would not be able to fulfil last Sunday’s Round 22 meeting between the two sides.
The Red Devils pulled out of the fixture on the basis of player welfare concerns, stating that they would have been able to raise a squad, but it would have been one made up solely of youth players belonging to them and others.
Wakefield and Paul Rowley’s side are scheduled to meet again in Round 27 in a game that will almost certainly be pivotal to Trinity’s hopes of making the top six and booking a spot in the Super League play-offs.
Daryl Powell addresses Salford cancellation as lack of ‘communication’ questioned
Powell’s side are back in action this coming Sunday afternoon when they travel to second-placed Wigan Warriors.
And speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, the Trinity head coach admitted that the award of a 48-0 scoreline from last weekend’s cancelled game was not enough: but insisted they could not afford to dwell on that decision.
Powell said: “If you start with that (scoreline), it’s probably not (enough). But there’s not a lot we can do. We take it and move on.
“It’s a pretty tough situation for those guys at that end and you feel for them. I can only imagine how tough life is for them at the moment.
“A bit of communication would have been good for us before they did cancel the game, but it is what it is.
“We take it, we move on and I don’t think that will get us in or get us out (of the play-offs). We’ve got them to play again at the back end of the year and that one point Hull FC have got takes it out of the equation.
“I think it’s a straight shoot-out between us and them, and the best team wins.”
Wakefield are scheduled to travel to the Salford Community Stadium on September 19, with that fixture coming 16 days after the Red Devils’ next meeting with HMRC regarding the winding-up petition against them.
Before then, Salford’s under-fire owners say they are confident a bridging loan will arrive which will allow them to clear the club’s debts.
Powell said: “There’s no point looking that far ahead. There were different stories coming out there that were crazy.
“For us it’s look after ourselves, that’s all we can do and win games. If that game (in Round 27) gets called off, you get another 48-0 win.”
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