Mark Applegarth explains what went wrong for Wakefield against Leigh

It is nine games and nine defeats and five games without a try and seven with one try or less for Wakefield Trinity.

As the West Yorkshire side lost to Leigh Leopards yesterday, coach Mark Applegarth explained why they came up short against the newly promoted side.

“Some individual quality that just wasn’t up to the standard shall we say, especially in that second-half some of that level of quality just isn’t acceptable for this level of rugby,” he said.

“I can’t keep on saying the same thing every week because the reality is that we’ve got to fix it up. It’s just not acceptable, not acceptable.

“There’s no hiding away from it. We’re talking now saying to the pivots that you’ve got to go into the line more, got to play straight. It’s alright playing lateral but there comes a point where you’ve got to preserve that space and make a decision, whether that’s a three vs two or four vs three, you’ve got to play straight and fix your defenders up. They’re the basics of the game.

“A few of us are catching balls static, you’re not going to dent anything if you’re doing that. It’s alright doing it in training and looking great but we’ve got to do it on a matchday.”

However he himself took ultimate responsibility:

“Ultimately I’m the head coach so it’s my responsibility. It’s me that’s responsible, I’m just giving you some cold harsh facts there. The responsibility is all of us but I’m head coach so the buck stops with me.

“We’re doing one thing in training but another in a game, that’s the thing that rattles you as a coach. If we were doing what we were doing in training and we applied ourselves how we do and it still wasn’t working in a game, you’d understand.

“The basics I’ve just said there like running on to the ball at pace, making sure you’re fixing your man up, you can’t afford not to be doing them at this level. Defences are too good and that’s what we’re finding out.”