Daryl Powell demands Wakefield ‘hold nerve’ as ‘special opportunity’ explained

Wakefield Trinity are still daring to dream about a possible play-off push this year, despite a small mid-season wobble.

The newly promoted side have lost their past two games on the spin, however, they still sit seventh in the Super League table heading into round 15, and a win this weekend plus favourable results elsewhere could see them climb as high as fifth.

But, it will be no walk in the park as they welcome defending champions Wigan Warriors to the DIY Kitchen’s Stadium.

Wakefield send play-off message

The Trin have made a strong return to the top flight in their first season back from the Championship, even with this tough run of losses.

A solid 14-12 win over Leeds Rhinos in round one got them off to the perfect start, and that was then backed up by a 30-16 hammering of Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones just three weeks later before thrashing Leigh Leopards 40-14 in round seven.

In total, Powell’s side have won seven of their opening 14 matches in the top flight, and have also pushed the likes of Hull KR and Hull FC close in that time too.

But this recent run of form could be cause for concern. They looked to have secured the two points against Leigh; however, Joe Ofahengaue’s 73rd-minute score saw the Leopards clinch a 24-20 win. That four-point margin was also a repeat of their Headingley heartbreak a round previous, as they lost 22-18 to Leeds in a repeat of their season opener.

“We’re in a really tough block, it’s about as tough a block of games as you can get, but we’re not far off,” Powell said ahead of his side’s clash with Wigan. “We’re getting a lot of confidence from it.

“For us, we’ve got to hold our nerve. We always knew we were going to go through tough periods; we’ve lost our last couple of games and are into a tough block, but we’ll keep turning up every week and look to challenge the opposition.

“We’ll start to get some troops back too, and then who knows? It’s there to be gotten into, the top six, and there will be some pivotal games along the way, but I think we’re in a great position.

“If you’d said to me at the start of the season this is your position, I’d have gone ‘thumbs up’. We’re looking forward to it, it’s a great challenge for us and a great opportunity to show what we’re about.”

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Full-back Max Jowitt, who opened the scoring for Wakefield in last weekend’s defeat to Leigh after just nine minutes, was just as confident about their very real play-off aspirations.

“With the signings we made and the players we’ve kept hold of, and once we gelled in pre-season, we knew we could do something special this season.

“Obviously it’s our first year back (in Super League), we want to do as well as we can but we’re not looking at unrealistic stuff. We want to push each other as far as we can go.

“There’s no pressure on us, and we just want to show teams what we’re about and get the respect we deserve.”

Champagne

If Wakefield are to make the top six come the end of the season, their eye-catching attack will likely be the key factor behind it.

Powell’s charges have racked up a tidy 323 points from their 14 regular-season matches this campaign, an average of 23.1 per game.

They also sit fourth for tries scored, with 60 efforts combined in their 14 matches this season.

Their attacking intent was highlighted best last month, as they scored a combined 144 points against Castleford (32), Warrington (40) and Salford (72) alone.

“It’s about setting your philosophy and how you want to play,” Powell said of his side’s attack.

“We’re multi-faceted, we have opened our game up at times with our outstanding half-backs and key players, but we’ve also scored a lot of tries through our middle unit. I think we’re dangerous everywhere.

“You work on your skills pretty hard, and I think we’re growing our game and our ability to play expansively. We’ve involved the players in what we’re doing, players and coaches come up with ideas and we mix it together, but the philosophy of letting players play what’s in front of them is important.

“We did that at the start of last season when we took over as a coaching staff and now have looked to harness it and grow it.”

“I wouldn’t do it if they didn’t buy into it. It’s alright moving the ball, but if it’s not effective then there’s no point. There’s different ways of breaking a defence down depending on who you’ve got, some of it is brute force going through the front door and then some of it is out the back door and going outside.

“It’s about balance and getting it right, you can’t always have the same approach as we found out at the start of the season. We went really expansive against Hull KR and got a lot out of it but when we played St Helens a week after they threw into touch, you can’t go around some teams.

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“Players learning what’s in front of them too, you can have a plan but sometimes things present themselves and you want them to be able to read that. That’s all about them learning, and if you get it right you have a multi-faceted team that can play different ways, and we’re on a journey towards that.”

This is also clearly transferring across to the players, too.

New cult hero, Caius Faatilli, has notched six scores to date, returning winger Tom Johnstone has nabbed seven, Lachlan Walmsley five, and Jowitt himself has notched a whopping 108 points from both tries and off the tee (33.4% of Wakefield’s entire tally this league campaign!) His tally also includes a team-high nine tries.

“It’s a lot more enjoyable (to play that attacking style),” said the England hopeful.

“The coaches gave us a plan, but it’s also then down to us spine players to put the plan forward. We share our views on stuff and the coaches share their views and we come up with a plan together; the players have a lot of say in things like our shape and style of play.

“It varies week to week given who we’re playing, but players like me, Mason Lino, Jake Trueman and others want to be playing expansive. It comes with it’s consequences, too, you’ll probably put the ball down more, but it’s the style we want to play. Then, we want to be direct off the back of it with our middles.

“It’s risk and reward, and it’s coming off at the minute.

“We practise a lot in training, but things change in games so to have two smart half-backs in Mase and Truey, it gives me a lot of space out the back as well. They play what they see in front of them, and that’s what makes us such a good team.”

The top six remains a very genuine and attainable goal for Wakefield Trinity, but wherever they finish this season, they will no doubt entertain the masses.

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