Wakefield Trinity face outside-backs crisis as ex-St Helens man could make debut v Hull FC

Jayden Myers suffered shoulder damage during last week’s 48-10 home defeat by Wigan Warriors, Corey Hall and Oliver Pratt both missed that game and winger Lachlan Walmsley remains on the casualty list. Rookie Kian McGann, 19, has been called into Trinity’s 21-man squad for a potential debut at Hull and has a “genuine chance” of playing, according to coach Daryl Powell.

Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today, Powell confirmed: “Jayden will be out for a few weeks. I’m not 100 per cent certain of timescales, but we’ll see how he goes. I don’t think it’s too bad.”

The news on Pratt (hamstring), Hall (ankle) and Walmsley (knee) is more concerning. Powell added: “Oli is going to be seven weeks from here. He will get re-examined at six weeks; he has had an injection in the area which should speed up recovery.

“We’ll see how he’s going, but he’ll be out for a fair while and it’s similar with Corey, though maybe a little bit less. Lachlan had surgery a while back - he had a patella tendon injury - and he’s three or four weeks away.”

McGann, who joined Trinity in pre-season from St Helens, has played at full-back on loan for Halifax Panthers and can also slot into the halves or three-quarters. “He has been going really well in training,” Powell said.

“He has been to Halifax and played a bit there. He has had some good experience and been playing well for the reserves. He’s one of those players you’d be excited to see out on the field.”

Though the situation is far from ideal, Powell insisted Trinity will cope. “We’ve had second-rowers playing in the centres, but a few teams have had that,” he stated. “It is what it is, you have to adjust.”

Wakefield were comprehensively outplayed last Friday and the coach’s priority now is a positive response against Hull, in a game live streamed on SuperLeague+ and Sky Sports+. “Wigan played at another level and we were just a bit below our standards,” he reflected.

“We’ve addressed a couple of areas of performance and it’s important we respond. The boys are pretty open that some of the things we did there weren’t great and opened us up to being attacked in the way Wigan attacked us. I just thought we were way too passive, really, everywhere and that’s not the way to play against anybody.”

But he emphasised: “Sometimes you get performances like that, I don’t think jumping up and down and throwing things about and slamming doors is the way to deal with it. I just think be rational and work our way through it and give benefit of the doubt to a group that has been really good. The boys have been good this week, their attitude has been class and it’s important we come straight back with a quality performance.”

That won’t be easy against an improving Hull side. Powell warned: “They are gritty and tough, I think they have turned that around a bit and they are difficult to score against at the moment. They are not conceding a lot and their young players have been awesome for them.”

Wakefield Trinity: from Jowitt, Scott, Johnstone, Trueman, McMeeken, Smoothy, Rodwell, Nikotemo, Storton, Tevaga, Pitts, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, Smith, Vagana, Sinfield, Rourke, Lolesio, McGann, Tate, Abraham.

Hull FC: from Barron, Litten, Martin, Arthur, Sezer, Ese’ese, Bourouh, Hill, Batchelor, Cartwright, Briscoe, Moy, Laidlaw, Salabio, C Kemp, Hutchinson, Kirby, L Kemp, Mata’utia, O’Neill, Wood.

Referee: Aaron Moore (Wigan). Kick-off: Friday, 8pm.