'Cheesed off' Luke Gale jokes orange boots sealed man of match award as Wakefield Trinity lift 1895 Cup

Gale won the Ray French Award for his performance in Trinity’s 50-6 thrashing of Sheffield Eagles on Saturday. It was his second Wembley triumph after he captained Leeds Rhinos to Challenge Cup success there against Salford Red Devils in 2020.

“I didn’t think I was outstanding, I think it could have gone to any number of players,” Gale said after Trinity’s huge win. “Shenny [assistant-coach Michael Shenton] said it was because I had orange boots and they noticed me more!

“I was a bit cheesed off that Richie Myler won it in 2020 - I thought if you kick a winning drop goal surely you get the Lance Todd. He got that one and I got this one, but it was a great team performance.”

The Cup final four years ago was played behind closed doors. Gale added: “Whenever you come to Wembley and get a victory it’s fantastic. The last time I came there wasn’t a soul here to celebrate.

“It’s fantastic, the crowd were awesome - there were probably as many as Warrington brought and not far off what Wigan did. Credit to them, they’ve been great all year.”

Of the team effort, Gale added: “I think the way to beat Sheffield is route one, through the middle. Whenever you play in a final you want to bring out your best foot. I think me and Mason [Lino, his half-back partner] were a bit guilty of that in the first 20 minutes, but we got there in the end. We put our foot on the throat in the second half and I thought that second half was as good a performance as we’ve had this year.”