Wakefield Trinity coach fires warning shot ahead of Leigh Leopards Challenge Cup tie

Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell has warned his side against any complacency ahead of Friday night’s Challenge Cup quarter-final tie against Leigh having beaten the Leopards comfortably in Super League last week.

Having been 40-14 winners at the Leopards’ Den last Friday night, the second instalment of the pair’s double-header sees Wakefield play hosts at Belle Vue in the last-eight of the cup.

If newly-promoted Trinity are able to win a game on home soil for the first time this season, they’ll reach the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup for the first time since 2016.

2023 cup winners Leigh stand in their way though, and the Leopards were victorious at Belle Vue en-route to tasting glory under the Wembley arch two years ago as a newly-promoted side themselves.

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‘We know that winning this game doesn’t win you next week’

Having won the competition as a player with Leeds in 1999, 59-year-old Powell has gone on to lose three Challenge Cup finals as a head coach: one with the Rhinos and two during his time at the helm of Wakefield’s rivals Castleford Tigers.

Speaking to the media after last Friday’s Super League success at Leigh, the veteran coach detailed the challenge of facing the Leopards again in the cup, and fired out the warning for his players to ‘at least’ perform to the same level as they did on the road.

He detailed: “It was a close game in lots of ways, and we play the same team next week, so they’ll have a bit of motivation there from that.

“The Challenge Cup is important to us, so we’ll look forward to that, but it’s a new game and a new day.

“They’ll pick some things up from today because they’ve got smart coaches and some pretty smart players.

“We’ve all been around a while, and we know that winning this game doesn’t win you next week.”

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‘It’s a good opportunity to get to a semi-final, and I think we’re good enough to do it’

Powell’s side got their own taste of Wembley success last year in the 1895 Cup as they swept Sheffield Eagles aside in the final of that competition.

Leigh also lifted the 1895 Cup the season prior to winning the Challenge Cup, and that story is very much there to be written again where Wakefield are concerned.

Powell continued: “I’ve been in these games quite a bit where you play the same team in the cup the week after, and sometimes I’ve purposely played a little bit differently in the first game than I have in the second.

“I didn’t really set out to do that this week, it was just about playing how we wanted to pay and seeing what happened.

“The art of coaching is coming up with something that is difficult to deal with next week.

“They’ve had a first-hand look at us, so there’ll be something in there, and we’ve got to think about that in advance.

“We’re going to need to play well next week, certainly at least as well as we played tonight.

“We’l need to look at it in a slightly different way I think, but it’s a good opportunity to get to a semi-final, and I think we’re good enough to do it. Our confidence is growing all the time about how good we can be.”

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