Wakefield Trinity spine hope for Warrington Wolves clash as coach makes 'they can play' comment
Assistant-coach Michael Shenton admits it will be difficult for Wakefield Trinity to keep a settled spine on the field this year, but reckons the more they play together, the better they’ll get.
Trinity are set to field the combination of full-back Max Jowitt and halves Jake Trueman and Mason Lino for a second successive game when Warrington Wolves visit DIY Kitchens Stadium, Belle Vue tomorrow (Sunday). The trio were outstanding in the Magic Weekend hammering of Castleford Tigers two weeks ago, but Shenton accepts - with Trinity being plagued by injuries this term - it’s unlikely they’ll stay together for the rest of the campaign.
“It won’t be realistic,” he conceded. “They way it’s going it won’t happen, but when we can - they can play and they love playing together. The more they can do that the more dangerous they will be and it helps us massively.
“Any time you can be consistent with your spine players, it always helps you. They are the ones who direct the play and control the game.”
Shenton revealed: “A lot of our focus recently has been around game-management and how to win games and grab hold of games. We had a period just before Magic Weekend when we were playing really chaotic rugby.
“It was end-to-end and we were starting sets poorly. We are just trying to work on ways to grab control and having Jake back helped that and helped Mason as well. The performance at Magic was really good throughout, really pleasing. Stats-wise we were great and some of the rugby we played was top-quality.”
Trinity are aiming for a league double over Challenge Cup finalists Warrington, having won 30-16 there in March. “That was probably one of our better performances this year,” Shenton reflected.
“From a gameplan point of view we were excellent and the attitude of the players. I think we shocked them a little bit, but that won’t be the case this time. They are coming off the back of a massive win [against Leigh Leopards in the Challenge Cup semi-finals] and their confidence is high. We are preparing for the best Warrington team to turn up here on Sunday. It is tight in the table so it’s an important game for both teams.”
Trinity’s 21-man squad is unchanged from the win against Tigers, so Matty Russell and Seth Nikotemo could return from injury and Josh Rourke and Jayden Myers are also in contention.
Wakefield Trinity: from Jowitt, Walmsley, Scott, Hall, Johnstone, Trueman, McMeeken, Hood, Nikotemo, Griffin, Pitts, Vagana, Pratt, Lino, Cozza, Rourke, M Russell, Croft, Smith, Myers, Faatili.
Warrington Wolves: from Crowther, Curries, Dufty, Fitzgibbon, Gardner, Harrison, Holroyd, King, Leyland, Lindop, Philbin, Powell, Ratchford, D Russell, Sneyd, Tai, Jake Thewlis, Vaughan, Wood, Wrench, Yates.
Referee: Liam Rush (Dewsbury/Batley). Kick-off: Sunday, 3pm.