“Address that” – Mark Applegarth explains Wakefield Trinity’s defeat to Castleford Tigers

Wakefield Trinity’s 24 year stay in Super League appears to be coming to a close as Castleford Tigers defeated them in a do or die relegation Grand Final at Belle Vue live on Sky Sports.

Wakefield led 8-6 at one stage but the Castleford scored twice before the break to make it 16-8 and a try after halftime all but settled it.

They would go on to win 28-12 thanks to a Greg Eden hat trick.

After the game, Mark Applegarth spoke to Sky Sports as he explained why his side lost:

“Yeah a tough one to take. I thought Cas were a lot more clinical. It is what it is, we can’t complain that we didn’t have the opportunities because we did and we didn’t take them.

“It is what it is. It’s not over yet. Obviously Cas now have some wind in their sales, but there are five games to go and we will not be giving up but I thought their composure was better than ours tonight.”

That being said, Applegarth is still confident his side can fend off relegation:

“Yeah we are confident. We were six points behind before and we still had faith in ourselves. That has never changed.

“We would have liked the result tonight but one thing I know about that group is that they won’t give in until it is mathematically impossible.

“We are hurting as you would do and there is no two ways about that but we will address where we can improve and we will go at it full strength and as hard as we can against Salford.”

When asked what he will say to the players, Applegarth said:

“You have to have that hurt. There is nothing you can say after a game like that. You have to stick together and we will review the game tomorrow and you just have to focus on next week.

“That is how ruthless sport is as you have to go again.”

When Wakefield’s amazing ability to stay alive in Super League was referenced, Applegarth said:

“Yeah but we can’t just rely on that, we have to live and breath it. We had enough opportunities to win that game so we need to address that.”