Wakefield Trinity were eliminated from the Challenge Cup but the injury blows dealt to the team are just as devastating with head coach Daryl Powell confirming suspected broken bones for two of the club’s starters.
In a game that was lost on key moments, Trinity fell to a 20-12 defeat to 2023 Challenge Cup winners Leigh with Wakefield full-back Josh Rourke experiencing a rollercoaster game.
The full-back has been drafted into the starting XIII due to Max Jowitt’s injury and it looked like his score could be a game winner but two errors led to easy tries for the visitors through Tesi Niu and Bailey Hodgson, ‘gifting’ Leigh the game according to Daryl Powell.
It wasn’t just the game that Wakefield lost though as Powell confirmed injuries to Matty Russell and Oliver Russell, whilst revealing they’d lost Josh Griffin to injury earlier in the day.
“I thought it was an outstanding effort from the boys,” the Trinity boss explained to BBC Radio Leeds after the game, before going on to list the injury issues.
Duo suffer suspected broken bones as Wakefield Trinity boss outlines injury cost of Challenge Cup exit
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— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) April 4, 2025
Powell explained: “We were pretty busted there, we lost a half (Oliver Russell) and then Matty Russell. He broke two ribs or popped cartilages in two ribs so he had to get jabbed up at half time.
“We’ve had a fair bit of shuffling around in the team, we lost Griff this morning, so I’m really proud of the boys and the way they’re going about the work.”
Assessing the game, he explained: “It felt like the Hull game a couple of weeks back where we were so close to winning a tight game and there’s a couple of key moments, when Pratty gets away and gives it to Tom Johnstone then I reckon it’d be tough for them to get back in the game. But we don’t and then there are a couple of key errors from us really that gift the game.”
Pratt had broken minutes before to set up Rourke’s try but on the second occasion, the centre didn’t pass and that decision was punished with Leigh scoring shortly after.
Asked about the injury to Oliver Russell, Powell asserted: “He’s definitely broken his hand so he’s gone to the hospital now to have an x-ray and see what the issue is there but I’m presuming that’s going to be a longish term injury.
“Obviously, we’ve got we’ve got Truey (Jake Trueman) missing and Max (Jowitt) missing so it’s pretty tough that for a team.
“I think regardless of who’s in the team at the moment we’re doing a pretty good job.”
Those injury issues had forced Jay Pitts into the halves, something that could continue next week as Powell explained he doesn’t expect the club to head into the market.
When asked, he said: “No I don’t think so, we’ll have to have a look at it next week and see what’s happening with Truey and where he’s going to be at the next couple of weeks but we’ll find a way of making it work.”
