Wakefield Trinity coach Daryl Powell’s fighting talk ahead of Leigh Leopards tie
Wakefield Trinity head coach Daryl Powell
Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell has taken umbrage to the lack of respect shown to his side despite their successful start to life back in Super League ahead of their Challenge Cup quarter-final against Leigh Leopards.
Trinity have won all three of their away games in the league so far this year, including victories at both Warrington Wolves and Leigh.
After those games, Warrington boss Sam Burgess and Leopards head coach Adrian Lam both offered praise for Trinity, but were quick to lambast their own teams’ performances with comparisons made to children’s rugby.
Wakefield’s win at Leigh came just last Friday night, and the pair meet again this Friday evening at Belle Vue with a spot in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup on the line.
Wakefield Trinity coach Daryl Powell’s fighting talk ahead of Leigh Leopards tie
Victory on home soil for the first time this term would see Wakefield move within 80 minutes of a return to Wembley having lifted the 1895 Cup under the famous arch last June.
As things stand, Trinity are the only club in Super League yet to reach a major final in the modern era.
But as they aim to change that, in his own pre-match press conference ahead of the cup tie, Powell made reference to Lam’s post-match comments after last week’s 40-14 defeat which compared his own side’s errors to those made at under-12s level.
Speaking on Wednesday, the Trinity coach said: “We’ve come into Super League this year and we were pretty much written off by most people, which gives us motivation.
“When we’re winning games, a lot of people are talking about under-12 tries being conceded. They can keep talking about it and we’ll keep going about our work.
“The attitude and commitment from the players has been outstanding every single week. If you’re doing that, you’re in a great place.
“We feel like we’ve got a lot of talent in the group and have got depth that has probably surprised us a little bit, never mind people on the outside.”
