Wakefield Trinity have beaten Castleford Tigers convincingly to go into fourth in the table after round seven of Super League.
Jake Trueman produced a sublime effort to help his side achieve their fifth victory in a row. It was another afternoon to forget for Ryan Carr’s side, who succumbed to a 34-0 defeat.
Jazz Tevaga, Caius Faatili and Jack Sinfield all missed out for Wakefield this week, but that wouldn’t affect their efforts this afternoon in what was the final game of Super League’s ‘Rivals Round’.
Oli Pratt scored twice and produced another sublime display on the right wing. He was one of many Trinity players that stood out today in arguably their best performance of the year so far.
Castleford Tigers v Wakefield Trinity talking points
Wakefield make statement:
With their fifth win in a row, Wakefield end round seven joint top of Super League, and are only separated by points difference from the top three.
Wigan in the Challenge Cup next week will be a battle, and upcoming tests against St Helens and Leeds in the league will prove if they can be classed as challengers, but it’s been a brilliant start to the season for Powell’s side.
Players like Trueman, Corey Hall and Matty Storton have reached new levels at the club, with Daryl Powell and his side deserving huge credit for that.
We are still in the opening third of the season, but the early signs show that Wakefield should not be taken lightly and will be up there amongst the top come September.
Mason Lino returns:
Trinity had Mason Lino return in this game, after the half-back has been missing since round one with a leg injury. He replaced Jack Sinfield in the playmaking role, with head coach Powell giving the former NZ Warriors man an opportunity to feature before next week’s huge Challenge Cup quarter-final.
The number seven couldn’t quite find his kicking boots to begin with, and a number of chances were spurned due to his poor kicking decisions. He wasn’t helped by the wind, but Lino will be hoping for some more accuracy on those kicks if he is selected against Wigan next week.
The second half proved much more fruitful for the 32-year-old, as he bagged up an assist and was far more effective as he orchestrated the Trinity attack.
The Trueman Show:
Lino’s half-back partner, Jake Trueman, was arguably the biggest difference maker this afternoon and he produced a brilliant showing to defeat his former club. Not only in attack but in defence too, some of his efforts without the ball stopped the Tigers from crossing the whitewash.
Scoring both the first and last try, his kicks provided plenty of threat and he took control of the game more than anyone else. In the second half he proved just as pivotal, and again his defensive effort to steal the ball from Jordan Lane when Castleford were in good ball was brilliant.
Trinity’s dominant pack:
Whilst Trueman will take the plaudits, Wakefield’s performances in attack largely came from the brilliance of their pack, and that is highlighted by a huge four forwards racking up over 100 metres.
Isaiah Vagana, Tray Lolesio, Jay Pitts and Caleb Hamlin-Uele all made over a century of metres in the middle of the field, and that went a long way to Trinity’s win this afternoon.
Wasteful Tigers:
In the first half alone, Castleford has 20 play the balls in Wakefield’s 20 (compared to Trinity’s seven) , however they couldn’t come up with anything to show for it.
Jason Qareqare was unfortunate to not cross for a try but other than that Wakefield weren’t challenged by the home side. They were able to not only soak up the pressure, but they then went down the other end and scored three tries in the opening 40 to take a 16-0 lead into the break.
Their second half didn’t get much better, and had a further 10 play the balls in the Wakefield danger zone. Their lack of attacking control hindered them though, and the Tigers couldn’t get over the line in another disappointing performance under Carr.
