Wakefield Trinity boss calls for ruck consistency, says side need to put 'everything' right v Huddersfield Giants
Wakefield Trinity coach Daryl Powell has called for more consistency in how the sport is refereed this year.
Sunday’s game at Huddersfield Giants will be Trinity’s second under a new crackdown intended to speed up the ruck. Powell is in favour of the stricter interpretation, but feels it was “just a little bit inconsistent from game to game” in Betfred Super League round one.
He said: “I’m not sure whether we can align that. I think that’s probably going to be important as we move through some of the interpretations and we’ve got to make sure the balance is right between attack and defence. I think that's really important.
“I think it’ll take a bit more of a sample size than round one, but I’d say every team is after consistency and I’d say officiating is the same - you want it to be consistent across the board and then you can sort of cop it because you know what’s happening.”
At the moment Powell, whose side were beaten 18-16 at home by top-flight newcomers Toulouse Olympique last week, feels teams have to prepare for different referees. “I think so,” he said.
“I didn’t have any problem with [the refereeing], it was more about us last week. We got a green card for when a bloke got hit in the head and they are the sort of things that are tough to take, but I think the interpretation is what it is.
“All coaches will be looking for some consistency and we’ve got to apply ourselves better to the rules as they stand at the moment. It will all balance itself out, I didn't really say too much about that at the end of the game, it was all about consistency really. I think that’s what we are after and that’s what we’re striving for. To know what we’re going into every week is important.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, Powell admitted Trinity need to put “everything” right following last week’s poor performance. As the newly-promoted team in 2025’s opening round, Wakefield won by a two-point margin at Leeds Rhinos who went on to finish fourth in the table so the first result won’t define Wakefield’s season, but Powell stressed they need to “move on pretty quickly”.
Of what went wrong, he conceded: “Everything. It’s very hard when you’re saying that, it’s hard to put your finger on. I just thought they played pretty well, we were right at the bottom of our performance levels and they deserved to win. That’s it, we just have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Giants also lost in round one to French opposition, 26-10 at Catalans Dragons. Powell stressed: “It’s an important game for us this week, so there’s no point dwelling too much on [the previous game]. We’ve got some key lessons to learn and just move on. Motivation comes from all sorts of angles. You lose games in a season, it’s never great to lose in round one, but we have, so don’t dwell on it too much.”