Where are they now? Wakefield Trinity’s last Super League side at Belle Vue

Wakefield Trinity are back in Super League action at Belle Vue on Thursday night for the first time in over 500 days. Coincidentally, the opponents are the same – Hull KR.

The Robins will be the first team to visit Belle Vue in 2025, and were the last to do so in the 2023 season which saw Trinity relegated from Super League, too.

September 22, 2023 saw a Wakefield side that had already seen their relegation confirmed beaten 56-12 by KR in Round 27 on the final night of the ‘regular’ campaign.

And that victory was enough to earn the visitors a home tie in the play-offs against Leigh Leopards, who they leapfrogged in the Super League table on points difference courtesy of this win.

Ahead of the pair’s clash in Round 2 of the 2025 season, we’re looking at the Wakefield 17 (18) from the meeting in September 2023, and where they all are today…

Max Jowitt

A handful of players from this 17 (18) remain with Wakefield to this day, and Jowitt – who was born and bred in the town – is one of them. The full-back is now into his 11th senior season with Trinity having made 154 appearances for them to date.

Last weekend, the 27-year-old marked his return to Super League with two tries and scooped the man-of-the-match medal from Sky as Daryl Powell’s side picked up a shock 14-12 win away against Leeds Rhinos.

Liam Kay

Leeds-born Kay ended his career with Wakefield, returning for his third stint at Belle Vue in 2021 and hanging up his boots following their 2024 Championship Grand Final triumph. Now 33, the three-time Ireland international brought the curtain down on his career having made more than 260 senior appearances – also donning a shirt for Doncaster, Leigh and Toronto Wolfpack.

Scoring a try in this clash with KR, he is now the Director of a company which deals with heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as running a horse equipment sales business separately.

Oli Pratt

Highly-rated youngster Pratt is still only 20, and has now made 49 senior appearances, including 38 for Trinity. This game brought the centre’s Super League debut on the back of an impressive loan stint in the Championship with York.

Pratt was among Wakefield’s try-scorers under the Wembley arch last June as Powell’s side beat Sheffield Eagles to lift the 1895 Cup. And following last year’s second tier success, the club tied the starlet down with a long-term deal which runs until the end of the 2028 campaign.

Jack Croft

Croft turned 25 in December. A product of Wakefield’s youth system, the Keighley-born ace returned to Belle Vue in May 2023 following a stint Down Under which saw him feature in the Queensland Cup for Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

The outside-back has remained with Trinity since then, and now has a total of 60 senior appearances on his CV – with 47 of those coming in Wakefield colours.

Lee Kershaw

Kershaw ended 2023 as Wakefield’s top try-scorer with seven to his name across all competitions, though he wasn’t on the scoresheet in this clash. The 25-year-old brought the curtain down on a Trinity career which saw him feature 50 times in total here.

Bagging a contract with London Broncos for 2024, the Bradford-born winger impressed as he ticked past the milestone of 100 senior career appearances last term and earned a two-year Super League deal from Hull KR beginning in 2025. He still awaits his Robins debut, and has now been sent out on loan to fellow top-flight side Castleford Tigers.

Will Dagger

Castleford native Dagger – 25 – also departed Wakefield at the end of the 2023 campaign, and linked up with ambitious Championship side York. He is now into the second of a three-year deal at the LNER Community Stadium and recently ticked past the milestone of 100 senior career appearances.

The playmaker’s stint at Belle Vue was only a short one, joining Trinity in March 2023 and leaving at the end of that year. He was responsible for four of their 12 points in this defeat to former club KR, kicking two conversions.

Luke Gale

11-time England international Gale spent circa 18 months in a Wakefield shirt, scoring 14 tries in 35 appearances after arriving from Keighley Cougars in May 2023 and hanging up boots following Trinity’s 2024 Championship Grand Final triumph.

The 2017 Super League Man of Steel, now 36, made almost 400 career appearances – representing Doncaster, Harlequins, Bradford Bulls, Castleford, Leeds, Hull FC and Keighley Cougars as well as Wakefield. He returned to Belle Vue in January and played in his testimonial game against former club Cas.

Renouf Atoni

Porirua native Atoni joined Wakefield ahead of the 2023 campaign having previously spent time on the books of NRL sides Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters.

The powerhouse Kiwi remains with Trinity to this day having played exactly 50 games in their colours, scoring 11 tries in the process.

Liam Hood

Ten-time Scotland international Hood has been a Wakefield player since the start of the 2022 season, and has now donned their shirt 73 times.

Having turned 33 in January, the Bradfordian has represented eight clubs to date in his career: Leeds, Dewsbury Rams, Hunslet, Salford Red Devils, Swinton Lions, Leigh, Widnes Vikings and Trinity.

Josh Bowden

Bowden also turned 33 in January. The Beverley native is no longer a Trinity player, bringing an end to a three-year stint at Belle Vue following their 2024 Championship Grand Final triumph and penning a deal to stay in the second tier with Doncaster.

Having played 55 games in a Wakefield shirt, the veteran forward is fast closing in on the milestone of 250 senior career appearances.

Matty Ashurst

Wigan-born Ashurst is another who departed the club at the end of last season having spent nigh on a decade at Belle Vue. First joining from Salford ahead of the 2015 season, the stalwart would go on to make 230 appearances for Wakefield, becoming their second-highest appearance maker of the summer era.

Now 35, the back-rower linked up with Championship new boys Oldham ahead of 2025, signing a two-year deal at Boundary Park and making the transition down into part-time rugby league in the process. He has already made over 360 career appearances in total.

Kelepi Tanginoa

30-year-old Tanginoa had played a handful of NRL games for Parramatta Eels, North Queensland Cowboys and Manly Sea Eagles before being handed a Super League opportunity by Wakefield midway through the 2019 campaign. Going on to spend four-and-a-half years at Belle Vue, he also represented the Combined Nations All Stars against England twice.

This game against KR proved to be his 88th and final appearance in a Trinity shirt, and he marked the occasion with a try. The New South Wales native would go on to join the Robins ahead of 2024, and remains a part of Willie Peters’ squad to this day, so will likely be back at Belle Vue on Thursday night lining up for the visitors.

Jay Pitts

Ossett-born Pitts is a product of Wakefield’s youth system, and returned for a second stint at Belle Vue from London ahead of the 2020 campaign. Remaining with Trinity ever since, he’s taken his appearance tally for the club up to 139.

Having also donned a shirt for Leeds, Hull FC, Doncaster, Bradford and London, the 35-year-old is now just two games off hitting the milestone of 400 senior career appearances.

Harvey Smith (Interchange)

England Academy star Smith, now 19, was handed his senior debut off the bench in this game. The highly-rated hooker would go on to play 13 times across all competitions last term under Powell’s stewardship as Wakefield completed a clean sweep of every accolade possible in the second tier.

He is yet to feature in 2025, but ahead of their return to the top-flight, Trinity handed Smith a new long-term contract which ties him down until the end of 2028.

Eddie Battye (Interchange)

Battye celebrated his 33rd birthday in December, and was at the other end of the scale, with this game against KR being his last in a Wakefield shirt. The veteran prop played 76 games for Trinity in total, including the six which came as a loanee in 2020.

He is still plying his trade in the Championship with Sheffield, and lined up for the Eagles at Wembley last June against Wakefield in the 1895 Cup final. Battye’s next appearance will see him bring up the impressive milestone of 300 senior career appearances having only ever played for Sheffield, London and Trinity.

Hugo Salabio (Interchange)

One-time France international Salabio – 24 – arrived at Belle Vue as a trialist midway through the 2023 campaign, but played just three games for Wakefield in the end after copping a mammoth suspension following a horror tackle on Richie Myler during his debut for the club.

Leaving the club after this game, he would go on to spend 2024 with Huddersfield Giants before being snapped up by fellow Super League outfit Hull FC ahead of the current campaign. The towering Marseille-born prop now has 19 senior appearances to his name in the British game.

Jordan Schofield (Interchange)

Schofield is a product of Wakefield’s academy, and this was his sole appearance for the club. Having featured 24 times for Dewsbury prior to his Super League debut, the youngster went on to join League 1 heavyweights Keighley.

The forward turned 24 last September, and was handed a one-year extension for 2025 by the Cougars ahead of the current campaign. His next game for them will see him hit the milestone of 50 senior career appearances.

Dane Windrow (18th man)

Windrow – who remained Wakefield’s unused 18th man in this clash with KR – is another product of the club’s youth system. He made just one senior appearance during his time at Belle Vue, and that came earlier in the 2023 campaign in the Challenge Cup against Leigh.

Having also featured on either loan or dual-registration for Dewsbury, Oldham, Swinton and Newcastle Thunder during his time at Belle Vue, the back-rower clocked up 16 career games in total. Windrow is now 22, and left Wakefield following this game. We haven’t been able to track him down, so if you know what he’s up to now, please do let us know!

Head coach: Mark Applegarth

Applegarth’s playing career saw him feature 27 times for hometown club Wakefield, and he took charge as head coach at Belle Vue ahead of the 2023 campaign. A difficult 12 months brought relegation after just four wins in 27 Super League games, and he was relieved of his duties around a month after this final match of the season against KR.

The 40-year-old returned to the dugout in June 2024 when he took over at Championship outfit York, and has enjoyed a relatively successful stint with the Knights to date having turned their season around last turn and led them to the play-off semi-finals in the second tier where they were beaten by Trinity.

Hull KR’s side from September 2023 visit to Belle Vue

Starting 13: Jack Walker, Louis Senior, Tom Opacic, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Ryan Hall, Mikey Lewis, Brad Schneider, Sam Luckley, Matt Parcell, George King, James Batchelor, Matty Storton, Elliot Minchella

Bench: Jordan Abdull, Sauaso ‘Jesse’ Sue, Jez Litten, Yusuf Aydin

Head coach: Willie Peters

Tries: Jez Litten (2), Brad Schneider (2), Matty Storton (2), Ryan Hall, Mikey Lewis, Tom Opacic, Jack Walker

Goals: Brad Schneider (8)