Wakefield Trinity coach delivers passionate rallying call ahead of St Helens clash with bold admission made

Wakefield assistant Michael Shenton has urged Trinity’s squad not to make a play-off finish their end goal this term, believing they can do damage as long as they give themselves the chance to do so by ending in the top six.

Promoted last autumn on the back of a treble-winning campaign at second tier level, Trinity have taken Super League by storm.

Their first campaign back in the top-flight has seen them win 11 games thus far, and with seven rounds remaining, they occupy sixth spot on the ladder.

With a favourable run-in which includes games against each of the bottom three, the odds appear stacked in their favour to cement a play-off spot.

But for Shenton, that’s not where he wants their story to end in 2025.

Wakefield Trinity coach delivers passionate rallying call ahead of St Helens clash with bold admission made

Daryl Powell’s side host Saints at Belle Vue on Friday night, and victory would ensure they end the weekend in the top six.

Assistant coach Shenton, who spent two years of his playing career with Saints, took on media duties as he was in the hotseat for Trinity‘s pre-match press conference.

He said: “Get the result here and that puts us in a really strong position, beating Leeds obviously did that as well, but we have to focus on ourselves.

“We don’t just want to get in the play-offs. If you’re going to get in there, you’ve got to have a crack at it.

“It’s about what form and what confidence you can get taking it in (to the play-offs). There’s bits around that and there are certain games where you go, ‘we have to be good there’.

“If you get those performances right and you get those results, it gives you some great confidence leading in.

“I just like how it’s finished. I like where that break’s come in, I like what it’s done for the competition.

“Everyone’s now fresh going in to this end block, there should be some cracking games right across Super League leading into what should be a great play-off series.

“We’re really excited.”

‘Getting in there is probably the main goal and then we’ll see what happens… a home tie would be massive’

Saints have already beaten Wakefield twice this year, winning 26-6 at Belle Vue in March and then 26-14 on home soil the following month.

But a win here would see Trinity move to within just two competition points of Paul Wellens’ side, who occupy fifth spot ahead of this clash, sat two competition points behind Leeds Rhinos in fourth after their win at Leigh Leopards on Thursday night.

Those in third and fourth get home advantage in the first week of the play-offs, and Shenton said: “It (a top-four finish) is not something we’ve spoken about, to be honest.

“We were massively focused into Leeds and on getting that result, and then we had some time off.

“It was good to mentally refresh and come in for this next block.

“It’s too hard to know how teams are going to come out of this break and how their squads will look with players coming back, like us.

“If it gets there, what Belle Vue is becoming for us means it would be big. But we’ve also come away from home and done really well this year, at times.

“Either way, getting in there is probably the main goal and then we’ll see what happens.

“A home tie would be massive though, especially with what our fans are doing at the moment for us.”

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