Wakefield boss Mark Applegarth ensures he’s the right man for the job despite 14th Super League defeat

Josh McAllister
Mark Applegarth

Photo by Steve Flynn/News Images

Wakefield boss Mark Applegarth believes he remains the right man to take the club forward despite falling to their 14th defeat of the Super League season.

The side remain at the foot of the table and winless during the current campaign, having fell to a 30-4 loss to Leigh in the opening game of day two at Newcastle’s Magic Weekend.

Rookie head coach Applegarth, only 38, is in his first season in charge of Wakefield, having been promoted from assistant ahead of the year following Willie Poching’s departure. 

Despite the horror start to the season, although not the worst in Super League history, Applegarth says he will not be walking away from the job and is adamant he remains the right man in charge. 

Opponents Leigh had found themselves down to 11 in the first half due to a red card to Ben Reynolds for a punch and a yellow for Tom Nisbet for a hip drop tackle. But despite the advantage, Wakefield failed to post any points during that period.

They eventually avoided their sixth nilling of the season on the 71st minute as full-back Max Jowitt scored a consolation try.

Lachlan Lam scored twice for the Leopards, alongside Robbie Mulhern, Edwin Ipape and Josh Charnley.

Mark Applegarth not worried about his coaching future

“I control what I can control. That’s completely out of my hands,” Applegarth said on his future. 

“I just focus on making sure that I’m doing everything that I can as a coach to make the lads feel prepared. 

“It’s frustrating when you feel you’ve had a good week’s prep and you see what you serve on the weekend.

“But there’s no point worrying about something that you’ve got no control over. 

“I think anyone that would find themselves in my shoes at this moment of time would find it challenging as we’re going through what is pretty evident a rebuild. 

“No matter who you are, if you’re a rookie such as me as people say or an experienced head, the messages are still the same. 

“Hopefully we’ll all be better people for it.”

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