The records Wakefield Trinity blitzed in thumping of hapless Salford Red Devils

Wakefield’s 72-10 against Salford Red Devils on Sunday afternoon saw them equal their biggest-ever Super League win: with that just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the records Trinity set.

Before going up against a Salford side still being debilitated by the club’s ongoing financial plight, Wakefield boss Daryl Powell offered his sympathies to the Red Devils but urged his team to take care of business.

They did just that, running in six unanswered tries to take a 30-0 lead into the sheds come the break which could well have been more had three of Max Jowitt’s conversions not been kicked into a swirling wind at Belle Vue.

And barring a couple of blips which saw the Red Devils get on the scoresheet, Trinity retained control throughout the second half, racking up the score.

The records Wakefield Trinity blitzed in thumping of hapless Salford Red Devils

As mentioned, the 72-10 win is Wakefield’s joint-biggest Super League win ever.It ties level with a win against Hull FC by the exact same scoreline back in July 2018.

Sunday’s success also brought Trinity’s biggest-ever winning margin (62) across any competition against Salford, with this the pair’s 156th meeting.

A 48-8 win (40 points) in the Championship Play-Offs in 1967 had held that record previously, with that tally of 48 also the most points Wakefield had ever scored in a game against the Red Devils prior to Sunday: another new record set.

Elsewhere, Wakefield had never before reached double figures in terms of tries scored in a single game against Salford. They had twice previously got nine, in 1980 and 2004 clashes respectively, but they scored 13 on Sunday to break new ground.

That record was broken when debutant Ellis Lingard crossed for Daryl Powell’s side’s tenth try just before the hour-mark on Sunday.

Along the same lines, Trinity had never kicked more than nine goals in a game against Salford before, but have done so now – with Jowitt managing to knock over ten of his 13 conversions here.

For clarity, nine goals had been kicked previously against Salford in a 43-18 win in September 2017 during the Super 8s.

Individual records broken

As well as setting all of the above records as a team during Sunday’s Super League encounter, there were some individual records broken along the way.

Liam Finn kicked all nine of Wakefield’s goals during that September 2017 win against Salford, so he held Trinity’s record for goals scored in one game against Salford.

Now, Jowitt holds it having slotted ten goals over on Sunday.

And having also scored a first half try, Jowitt is able to claim a total of 24 points, which is a record in itself.

Jamie Rooney, in 2007, and Will Dagger, in 2023, had both previously scored 20 points in a single game against Salford for Trinity.

But until now, no one had scored more than 20 for Wakefield against Salford in a single game.

Before we end this statistical run through, it’d be remiss of us not to mention that two players brought up milestones in the Round 12 clash.

Wakefield’s Jay Pitts, who was among their try-scorers, made his 150th appearance for Wakefield having returned to Belle Vue for a second stint back in 2020.

And in the Salford side, fellow try-scorer Nene Macdonald brought up his 200th career appearance, with this his 32nd in the colours of the Red Devils.