Wakefield Trinity ready for high-quality Leeds Rhinos challenge as coach says 'we've got to be us'

Trinity were beaten 18-16 at Leeds in the Boxing Day festive challenge, but tomorrow’s Betfred Super League round one derby will be their first competitive game there since a 26-0 defeat in March, 2023. They were relegated that year, but bounced straight back last season, finishing top of the Championship and winning the 1895 Cup and second-tier Grand Final.

Their season didn’t finish until mid-October, leaving them behind their rivals in terms of preparation time and Powell said: “It has been a shortish one, but I think we’ve had a pretty good pre-season. On Boxing Day we played Leeds and they touched us ua little bit.

“It was a close-ish game on the face of it, but I thought Leeds were ready to play a Super League game at that point. That gave us some good things to work on and since then we’ve worked pretty hard and we feel good.

“We played Castleford and we were pretty good against them and I thought we looked good last week against Goole. Obviously it’s not Super League opposition, but you can only play what’s in front of you and we did it pretty well. But where we are now, we’ve got Super League slap bang in front and the different intensity that brings, so it is an interesting challenge for us.”

Between them, the two sides scored 174 points without reply last Saturday – Leeds beating Wests Warriors 92-0 while Trinity were 82-0 victors over Goole Vikings – and will field similar lineups tomorrow. Both Challenge Cup wins were against much lower-ranked opposition, but Powell stressed: “You’ve still got to do it.

“I watched the Leeds game and they are playing some good stuff. They’ve got some high-quality players, they’ve recruited well and they’ve got a new coach in, who has been able to put a marker down in pre-season.

“He has had a long off-season and pre-season, after Leeds dipped out early last year, to instill his methods and his disciplined way of operating. It is a good opportunity for us, they will be confident and we’ve just got to be us and go and play our game.”

Though Trinity have a new-look side, Powell stressed: “The signs are, we’ve looked pretty good. We scored 30-odd points against Cas and a lot last week so the fluency of our game is not going to be a problem.

“It’s going to be more managing difficult situations and being under pressure, the same as all new teams face - what does that look like, how do we dig ourselves out of tough situations and how do we deal with everything as a team? I think we’ve got a good, strong leadership base and we are ready for it. There are certain things I think as a team we have got big ticks on so far and other things I think we’ll have to learn on the hoof.”