Wakefield Trinity coach Daryl Powell reveals 'justice' aim for Super League Grand Final v Warrington Wolves

Trinity, who finished the regular season in fourth place, take on third-placed Warrington Wolves in the Betfred Super League showpiece and, unusually, neither club is familiar with the big event. Wakefield are in their first Grand Final and Warrington’s most recent appearance at the Theatre of Dreams was eight years ago.

Additionally, they appear evenly-matched, one place and two points separating them over the 27 league rounds and both winning their home fixture in the regular campaign. It is effectively a level playing field and that means the title will go to whoever handles the occasion and plays best on the night.

Trinity’s 33-6 victory at league leaders Wigan Warriors seven days ago proved they will take some stopping if they hit top gear and Powell insisted: “The boys are ready to go. It’s the final game of the season, it’s a privilege to be here, now just do ourselves justice. That’s what I’m after.”

The coach stressed: “We’ve done a phenomenal job to give ourselves a chance on the biggest stage. We’ve just got to be good enough to take it. We need to get our preparation right, stay nice and calm and then be good enough to do it on Saturday.

“I feel like the last seven or eight weeks have set us up - we’ve played all the best teams, pretty much. It’s only Hull KR we haven’t played and I think we’re fully tuned in. For the group we've got together at the moment, I just think it’s an unbelievable opportunity.

“We’re not talking too much about winning - it’s about playing the game. Every game we go into we want to win, but I think we’ve just got to focus on the game itself and not get too ahead of ourselves.”

Powell’s side handled a huge task in exemplary fashion last week and he has no fears about the occasion getting to his side. “We’ve got a few players who’ve played Grand Finals,” he pointed out “I’ve coached one, Shenny [assistant-coach Michael Shenton] has played in one, so have Mike [McMeeken] and Tom [Johnstone] and Tyson [Smoothy] has played in two in Australia.

“We’ve got enough experience to guide us through and I feel like the group’s in a really calm, relaxed place. We’ve been playing in some great atmospheres and the boys have been pretty chilled and handled all that has been thrown at them.

“I fully expect them to handle this. We’ve just got to be chilled and play our game. I’m just looking forward to it.”

Powell described today’s opponents as “a really outstanding rugby league team” and insisted the fact he was sacked as Warrington’s coach three years ago has no place in his thoughts. “I just think it’s a Grand Final and we want to win,” he pledged. “I might think about that after, but at the moment it's just focus on the game - don’t think about anything like the side issues.”

Whatever the result, the title decider will be several of the team’s final appearance for Trinity. Powell is keen to send them all out with a Super League ring, but would be especially delighted if veteran Jay Pitts’ last career game was a winning Grand Final.

He said: “Max Jowitt is going to York, Mason Lino’s going to Cas - those guys are going to continue their careers, but for Pittsy, hopefully it’s a beautiful ending. I’d love that for him. There’s your motivation really, you get an opportunity to send a champion bloke and player like Pittsy out on a high. That’s certainly part of it.”

Wakefield Trinity: from Jowitt, Scott, Hall, Johnstone, Trueman, Lino, McMeeken, Smoothy, Rodwell, Tevaga, Pitts, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, H Smith, Vagana, Walmsley, Sinfield, Myers, Rourke, Lolesio, Lipowicz.

Warrington Wolves: from Taylor-Wray, Thewlis, King, Hopoate, Ashton, Williams, Yates, Walker, Harrison, Stone, Currie, Powell, Byrne, Crowther, Irwin, Hayes, Bentley, Philbin, Lindop, J Smith, Tanginoa.

Referee: Liam Moore (Wigan). Kick-off: Saturday, 6pm.