Wakefield Trinity reaction: Willie Poching insists 'it's still in our control' after Magic Weekend loss to Toulouse Olympique

Defiant coach Willie Poching insists Wakefield Trinity are still in control of their own destiny after they blew a chance to virtually secure Betfred Super League survival.

Trinity took a four-point advantage into the Magic Weekend clash with bottom club Toulouse Olympique and were 20-4 ahead at half-time.

A six-point gap would probably have made Wakefield safe, with nine rounds remaining, but they spectacularly collapsed, conceding six second half tries to lose 38-26.

Now only two points adrift, the French side - who play host to Leeds Rhinos on Saturday - have all the momentum.

Dave Fifita scored for Trinity, but his sin-binning was costly. Picture by Will Palmer/SWpix.com.placeholder image
Dave Fifita scored for Trinity, but his sin-binning was costly. Picture by Will Palmer/SWpix.com.

Trinity’s next game is at Hull KR on Sunday and Poching said: “We are still in control of it, there’s still some more footy to play and that starts this week.

“We’ve got to get back to it, get back to the drawing board. We’ll have a look at it, have some honest discussions and then get on with chasing two points again.

“I have still got a lot of belief in them and know they have got a lot of belief in each other.”

Poching admitted: “It is disappointing we threw such an advantageous situation away.

Jack Croft and Kyle Evans show their disappointment aftert Trinity's loss. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.placeholder image
Jack Croft and Kyle Evans show their disappointment aftert Trinity's loss. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

“We had so much control field position-wise and scoreboard-wise. Discipline hurt us, losing two players to the sin-bin. Playing with 12 men for 20 minutes was crucial.”

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David Fifita was yellow carded for a professional foul in the final seconds of the first period and Rob Butler got temporary marching orders following a dangerous tackle moments after his teammate’s return.

Poching admitted the cards “went close to” costing Trinity the game. He reflected: “Toulouse piled on the points when they were off.

“We need to manage those situations better than we did, we need to do better with the 12 men.

“We’ve also got to take those situations out of the referee’s hands, so he doesn’t make those decisions.”

Wakefield were without half-back Mason Lino who was ruled out at the captain’s run, owing to a calf injury and food poisoning.

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