Wakefield Trinity news: make Hull FC result 'irrelevant' plea as changes planned for crucial Hull KR clash
Wakefield Trinity will keep their eyes on the ball when they attempt to secure a play-off spot at home to table-topping Hull KR tomorrow (Saturday).
Sixth-placed Trinity go into the penultimate Betfred Super League round holding a one-point advantage over Hull FC, in seventh. The black and whites are also in action tomorrow, kicking off at the same time, 5.30pm, against visitors Warrington Wolves.
Wakefield are in the box seat, knowing victory, coupled with a Hull defeat, would seal the final play-off place. However, an FC win would send the race for the final play-off spot into the last round of the regular season, next week, when Wakefield visit bottom club Salford Red Devils and their rivals play host to Catalans Dragons.
It might be difficult to avoid, but Trinity coach Daryl Powell doesn’t plan to keep in touch with Hull’s score. He insisted: “I’ll just focus on our game and what we are doing.
“That’s the most important thing. Obviously what they do is going to be important, but less important if we win both our games; it becomes irrelevant then and that’s what we have got to focus on.”
The Robins need one more point to guarantee the league leaders’ shield, though their better for and against means they could potentially lose both remaining fixtures and still finish above second-placed Wigan Warriors. Trinity were pipped by 14-12 by them at home in round two and trailed only 12-10 midway through the away rematch three months ago, before conceding 20 unanswered points in the second half.
Powell said: “I think we’ve been good against Hull KR for one and a half games. We haven’t been perfect all year, but we have been a challenge for teams and we are still here fighting, with a great opportunity to get into the six. It is still in our hands. We just need to play well in our last two games.”
Trinity are boosted by the return of prop Ky Rodwell, whose last appearance was in a home win against Castleford Tigers five months ago. He has recovered from knee surgery and Powell confirmed: “He has got through this week okay so he has a chance of playing.
“It has been a fair while since we’ve seen him. We have been pretty light at times so it’s good to get him back out there and see how he goes. He is pretty much looking forward to it.”
The team boss could rejig other roles in his side following a shock 26-22 loss at Castleford in Trinity’s previous game. He added: “We weren’t great. We need to be better and there’s a couple of positions that would be up for grabs, based on how it went last week in particular.”
Wakefield Trinity: from Jowitt, Scott, Johnstone, Trueman, McMeeken, Hood, Rodwell, Nikotemo, Griffin, Pitts, Atoni, Storton, Pratt, Lino, Cozza, Rourke, Croft, Smith, Myers, Faatili, High.
Hull KR: from Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Litten, Waerea-Hargreaves, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella, Luckley, Whitbread, Broadbent, Tanginoa, Brown, Doro, Leyland, Mourgue, Booth.
Referee: Chris Kendall (Huddersfield). Kick-off: Saturday, 5.30pm.