For the second year in a row, Lachlan Walmsley has put in a stellar performance at Magic Weekend and Wakefield Trinity head coach Daryl Powell has been fielding questions on the off-contract winger’s future.
The 28-year-old scored a try on his return to the action and had another moment of genius that almost produced a try in what was an emphatic win for Trinity as they hammered Castleford 48-6.
Walmsley also entertained the fans by pulling an Uno +4 card out of his sock to celebrate his try, something that helped earn a bonus £1,000 for the MND Association with Betfred donating £15,000 across the weekend.
It was only Walmsley’s second appearance of the season but he now boasts three tries from his two games and questions are understandably being asked about the Australian given his impressive scoring rate and the fact he’s without a deal for 2027.
Assessing his performance, head coach Daryl Powell said: “Lachlan coming back to do what he did today in his first game was excellent. He’s instinctive. He actually played reserves on Monday night. He played 40 minutes there, so I went over to watch that at Hull, and I thought he played really well there.
“He slotted in and did a great job today. I thought he was really good.”
As for the celebration, Powell had less of an explanation: “I have no idea. I didn’t know he had his card in his sock, but fair play to him in terms of players that can just do things like that and put it out the back of their mind. It’s not something I would have been doing, but I’m a little bit different to Lockers.”
Wakefield Trinity boss unsure on Lachlan Walmsley’s future
Having missed so much of the season through injury, Powell admitted that contract talks may be ‘pretty tough’ especially with Walmsley taking up an overseas quota spot.
On the winger’s future, Powell said: “Obviously, he’s out of contract. When somebody’s injured like Lachlan has been and they’re on the last year of the contract, then it’s a pretty tough conversation really.”
Powell also referenced Walmsley’s 2025 Magic Weekend performance when he scored two tries and effectively secured himself a new deal, but he admitted that he’s unsure this time around.
“For us, we’ve been looking to build our squad in the outside backs,” Powell said, adding: “I’m not 100% sure. I don’t know if you remember Magic last year, his contract was sort of like that then, so it’ll be an interesting discussion.
“Look, I love him, he’s a great kid. He’s sort of bounced around a fair bit in the Champ and then got an opportunity. He’s a genuine winger, he just scores tries and he’s got a great instinct.
“I’m not 100% sure where it’s going to go, but regardless, I love him as a kid and as a player, I just think he’s grown immeasurably over the last couple of years.”
