Wakefield Trinity target play-offs after 'genuine Super League team' achievement

Last year’s Championship league leaders and Grand Final winners began Betfred Super League round 12 in the sixth and final play-off place and, according to coach Daryl Powell, the challenge now is to stay there. “You need a bit of luck and it would be handy if we could trim injuries down a bit, but I think we’ve shown we are capable,” Powell insisted of his side who have picked up six wins so far, including a home and away double against Challenge Cup finalists Warrington Wolves.

“We have made the second-most tackles in Super League and missed the least - I think that says a lot about the team, as much as anything else. We are in a good spot at the moment, but there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge and we are going to need to be outstanding, so we’ll wait and see.”

Whatever happens over the final 16 weeks of the campaign, Powell reckons Trinity - who play host to bottom club Salford Red Devils on Sunday - can be “proud” of the progress they’ve made this year. Belief is growing inside and outside the club, but the boss stressed the team won’t get ahead of themselves.

“I think people are starting to believe in us a little bit and the boys are starting to believe a lot more,” he added. “People watching us play now are seeing we are a genuine Super League team and for a team that has been promoted, I think that is a fair achievement so far - but we are not getting carried away.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do - we want to continue to evolve and get better. We are going to get challenged, massively and it’ll be great to see how good we can actually be. It’s a different challenge this week against Salford, but I think for us dealing with whatever’s thrown at us is a key part of our learning process.”

Salford have picked up just one win so far. They remain in a financial crisis and coach Paul Rowley has named an 18-man squad this week. “It is an important game for us, for consistency of performance,” Powell - who has drafted academy prop Ellis Lingard into his 21 - warned.

“It is key we stay consistent and keep building and stay motivated. Salford are going through a tough time at the moment, which is not great to see, but it’s important we don’t expect anything to do the job for us. You have got to do it yourselves and I think we are ready to do that. There’s no reason why we should be dropping off in our attitude and intent. If you do that, you always get undone.”

Wakefield Trinity: from Jowitt, Walmsley, Scott, Hall, Johnstone, McMeeken, Hood, Nikotemo, Griffin, Pitts, Vagana, Pratt, Lino, Cozza, Rourke, M Russell, Croft, Smith, Myers, Faatili, Lingard.

Salford Red Devils: from Brierley, Macdonald, Stone, Shorrocks, Marsters, Ormondroyd, Sangare, Davis, Foster, Hankinson, Wilson, Morgan, Connell, Glover, Chan, Vaughan, Makin, Warren.

Referee: Liam Moore (Wigan). Kick-off: Sunday, 3pm.