Wakefield Trinity: BJB's eyeing up top four after clinical Hull victory

TWO-TRY WINGER Ben Jones-Bishop insists Wakefield Trinity will not put their cue on the rack after securing a top-eight place.
Ben Jones-Bishop breaks away to score against Hull FC on Sunday.Ben Jones-Bishop breaks away to score against Hull FC on Sunday.
Ben Jones-Bishop breaks away to score against Hull FC on Sunday.

Trinity are assured of a third successive appearance in the Betfred Super-8s after thrashing Hull 72-10 two days ago.

Jones-Bishop, who bagged a second-half brace, described that as a “good achievement” and admitted it takes the pressure off Friday’s game at Huddersfield Giants, but stressed they won’t be easing off.

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“Catalans, Huddersfield and Leeds had a little rally towards the end and them being so close does put a bit of pressure on you, so to put it to bed [with one game in hand] is really good,” he reflected.

Ben Jones-Bishop celebrates scoring against Hull FC.Ben Jones-Bishop celebrates scoring against Hull FC.
Ben Jones-Bishop celebrates scoring against Hull FC.

“It’s another big game this week. Us, Catalans and Huddersfield are all on the same points, one behind Hull, so the race is on. We are chasing fifth, but we want to go one better and get into the top-four.”

That will be a tall order with an eight-point gap to close in as many games.

“It’s a long way off,” Jones-Bishop conceded. “I think the immediate future is Hull, that’s one game away.

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“We are one point behind, so one game and we are there. In the last two seasons we’ve shown when we are confident we can put wins together.

“Consistency is a big thing for us and if we can do that, who knows – we can push for the top-four.

“In the top-eight, other than Saints pushing away, I think everyone’s capable of taking points off everyone so that could work in our favour if we win our games. We are happy to get this [Sunday’s] one under our belts and get in the top-eight and now we’ll try and push on for fifth.”

With Leeds Rhinos, Huddersfield Giants and Catalans Dragons all winning, defeat to Hull would have left Wakefield just one point clear of ninth place going into Friday’s final round of the regular season and Jones-Bishop said: “We were the last to play so everyone was looking at us, but we were really focused. We believe in ourselves, we are a confident team and when we look after the ball and front-up and defend we are capable of beating anyone.”

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Trinity were 38-0 up at half-time and Jones-Bishop felt work done during the week and in the early stages of the game set the foundation for their highest Super League score.

“We had a really good week in preparation and we knew we had to start well,” he said.

“The last few weeks we’ve started slowly and left ourselves too much to do.

“We knew if we started well and looked after the ball we can challenge most teams and I think our middles really dominated.”