Wakefield Trinity head Coach Daryl Powell has revealed why the club will be without two more influential players on Thursday night when 2024 Grand Finalists Hull KR visit the DIY Kitchens Stadium.
Powell is expecting an atmosphere similar to last year’s Championship Grand Final for Trinity’s first home game since being promoted back to Betfred Super League, particularly following last Saturday’s epic 14-12 round one win at Leeds Rhinos.
Trinity were without a host of big names for that match against the Rhinos, including Ky Rodwell (hamstring), Renouf Atoni (calf muscle), Josh Griffin (groin), Seth Nikotemo (thumb) and Cam Scott (hamstring) and Matty Russell and Liam Hood have now been added to the Wakefield casualty list.
“Matty is pretty sore, he did a shed load of work last week and there’s a couple of bits that’ll keep him out on Thursday, but nothing major,” Powell confirmed.
“Hoody won’t be out too long. He has got a bit of damage to his ankle ligaments, but he’ll be fine – I am hopeful he’ll be there next week or the week after.”
How could Wakefield Trinity line up against Hull KR after injury issues
🏟️ We’re on target for over 8,000 at the DIY Kitchens Stadium on Thursday!!
Turnstiles will open from 6:30pm so make sure to get down early to make sure you’re in the ground prior to kick off and ready for our fabulous pre-match fireworks!
🎟️ https://t.co/hdJjJpbNDU#UpTheTrin pic.twitter.com/Gpehg3qTNV
— Wakefield Trinity (@WTrinityRL) February 17, 2025
Hooker Harvey Smith could come into the 17 for his second Super League game, with Oliver Russell and Thomas Doyle being other options for the number nine role.
Speedster Lachlan Walmsley is likely to take Russell’s wing spot and Powell insisted he isn’t losing sleep over the injury situation.
Wakefield Trinity and Hull KR squad news
He stressed: “I’d rather have everybody available, but it’s rugby league. Hull KR are at a point where they have got everybody available and that’s great for them, but we just keep saying ‘who’s in next, what are you going to do and how good are you going to be’?
“You can’t do anything with players that aren’t playing and there’s no point worrying about it too much.
“We’ll have a team going out there on Thursday who we have every trust in doing a job for us.”
Wins now will stand Trinity in good stead for when they get all their troops back on the field.
Powell added: “On our bench last week we had Caius [Faatili] who has hardly been with us and Isaiah [Vagana], who has missed a massive chunk of pre-season.
“Doyley [Thomas Doyle] had just come back in to training and probably shouldn’t have played in that game, but we have got a group of guys who are fully committed to what we are doing and we will find a way – we’ll fit it together and we’ll have a really strong team going out there on Thursday.”
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