Former Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves and Castleford Tigers boss Daryl Powell has taken over at Belle Vue.
The former Cas boss will reunite with Luke Gale who he developed into an international halfback and a Man of Steel winner in 2017.
The halfback was the star of the show as Powell’s side won 25 out of 30 games reaching a total of 50 points which is one of the most in Super League history.
The two are back together and Powell has seemingly ended the speculation about Gale’s future saying on YouTube:
“I haven’t worked with many of them, so I need to build some relationships there or coaching and they get the best out of players always revolves around around relationships and finding out who they are, find out what they’re about, find out what the families are about so that’ll be important.
“One player I’ve worked with before is Luke Gale who I signed at Castleford and he turned into an international player during my time there. I thought he was a perfect signing for Wakefield just to came you know what he’s like he’s a big bubbly character he’s got a great personality and he’s obviously an outstanding player.”
Gale will be key to their aims in 2023 and for Powell that is clear:
“Well there’s one aim isn’t there? There’s one aim, it’s to get out of the championship, get back into Super League. You can’t take that challenge easy. Obviously I worked at Featherstone, I played in the championship in a different guise back when I played, so I know how tough it is; but get out of the championship, that’s exactly what everybody wants to do at the club; style of play, what you play to the players that you’ve got.
“I mean I saw first hand, the ball movement that Wakefield are capable of against Warrington in my last game in charge. There’s some phenomenal players already on board, and it’s about harnessing their skill sets and making sure we play exactly to the team’s skill sets, and make sure we get everything right.
“There’s not always one way of playing, the thing is about making sure the team can play the way that it needs to on any given day and in any given situation so I’ll be creating a flexible team that can play different ways and I think the players, the foundation of the players in the area already will be able to do that.”