'We'll scour the globe': Wakefield Trinity boss' pledge as Super League safety looms
Wakefield Trinity will “scour the globe” to replace players who leave at the end of this season, coach Willie Poching has pledged.
Trinity will be mathematically safe in Betfred Super League if they win at home to Hull KR on Thursday or bottom club Toulouse Olympique fail to beat Catalans Dragons.
Hull KR have confirmed the signing of forward James Batchelor on a two-year contract beginning next season and Trinity stand-off and captain Jacob Miller is expected to join Castleford Tigers.
Poching admitted he is “not sure” how many players will be joining Batchelor through the exit door, but insisted: “When this happens we have got to recruit and we’ve got to scour the globe to find the best replacements possible.”
He said: “That is just the nature of the game, you can’t keep everybody.
“Everyone has their own reasons for signing contracts, whether that be here or elsewhere.
“We have got to do our due diligence and do our job right to make sure our roster is as strong as possible next year.”
It seemed Trinity’s time in the top-flight was coming to an end when they slipped to the bottom of Super League less than six weeks ago.
But they have won three of their five games since then, the defeats coming by one and four points, while Toulouse have suffered a string of losses.
With three games remaining, a six-point advantage and better for and against, Trinity are effectively safe from relegation and Poching insisted he never doubted they would stay up.
“I believed all the way through,” he said.
“I believed in the quality we had and the character of the group.
“At times we were the architects of our own downfall, whether that was discipline or errors.
“It just seemed we’d fix up one area and then fall away in another, but I knew if we could put the 80-minute performances together we could turn the corner and be in this position.
“There’s a few more games to go and we are thinking about still climbing, but I knew if we got our performances right, we’d be fine.”
If Trinity had played all season the way they did in wins over Castleford Tigers, Wigan Warriors and Hull - as well as the extra-time loss to St Helens - relegation would never have been an issue.
Poching, who has named a 20-man squad to face Hull KR, admitted: “It is frustrating we haven’t been able to do that more often.”
On-loan Jamie Shaul will return at full-back against Rovers after not being allowed to play in last week’s win over his parent club Hull.
Jordan Crowther, Liam Kay, Harry Bowes, Rob Butler, Isaac Shaw and Kyle Evans are also in contention for a call-up.
Liam Hood begins a three-game ban which means he won’t play again for Trinity this year and Jai Whitbread, Brad Walker and Max Jowitt also drop out from last week’s team.
Wakefield Trinity: from Miller, Lino, Battye, Arona, Ashurst, Crowther, Gaskell, Kershaw, Kay, Croft, Aydin, Bowes, Murphy, Shaw, Hall, Butler, Fifita, Evans, Bowden, Shaul.
Hull KR: from Hall, Vete, Parcell, King, Linnett, Storton, Litten, Sims, Minchella, Keinhorst, Lewis, Milnes, Maher, Ryan, Wood, Halton, Tate, Laulu-Togaga’e, Moore, Fishwick, Barley.
Referee: Marcus Griffiths (Widnes).
Kick-off: Thursday, 7.30pm.