Talking points as twelve-man Trinity hammer Castleford as Wakefield showcase title credentials

Twelve-man Wakefield Trinity continued their impressive run of form with a third big win of the season against near-neighbours Castleford Tigers.

Castleford, beaten 34-0 at Easter and 48-6 three weeks ago, led briefly, but were blown away in the third quarter when the home side scored four tries.

The 52-14 result was Trinity’s sixth successive victory and kept up the pressure on the top two of Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors – and it came despite Matty Storton’s second red card of the season, after just 23 minutes.

Wakefield Trinity and Castleford Tigers talking points

Title contenders

This was Wakefield’s sixth successive victory and they are now level on points with Super League leaders Leeds who play Bradford Bulls in their game in hand on Sunday.

Rhinos visit DIY Kitchens Stadium, Belle Vue, in two weeks’ time for a blockbuster West Yorkshire derby, the winners of which will be in a strong position to claim a top-two finish.

That has to be Trinity’s aim now and, with Wigan also to play among their final seven fixtures, they have a real chance. None of their rivals will fancy a trip to Wakefield with a place in the Grand Final at stake.

Matty Storton sees red

The Wakefield Trinity second-rower was sent-off for the second time in eight games, getting his marching orders for an alleged shoulder to the head of Tigers’ Alex Mellor. He avoided a ban last time, but faces an anxious wait for Monday’s match review panel meeting.

Mellor, playing out of position at centre, went off for a head injury assessment, but returned later in the first half.

Like the home clash with Hull KR last month, Trinity shrugged off the numerical disadvantage, after a brief scare when they went 10-6 down, but as a tactic, it’s probably not ideal.

Man of Steel snub

The new panel who will decide this year’s Man of Steel winner is made up of some of the game’s modern day greats, but it seems they haven’t been paying attention.

Along with Wigan, Trinity are one of the competition’s form sides, but they don’t have a single representative in the latest top-10 for the award, which was announced this week.

That was based on rounds 10 to 18, but on the evidence of their latest big win, Tom Johnstone, Jake Trueman and Caius Faatili – to name just three – should all be there or thereabouts next time.

Slow out of the blocks

Tigers have a lot to improve on, in particular their start to halves needs to be a lot better. Twice in six days they have conceded in the opening defensive set of the first and second periods.

They got away with it against Leeds last weekend, but there was no repeat this time, despite them hitting back to go ahead briefly in the opening 40.

It was always going to be tough for Castleford to back up from a remarkable win like the one against Leeds, especially on a short turnaround and they looked a weary side after half-time.

Can we play you every week

The Trinity fans sang ‘can we play you every week’ as their side pulled well clear in the second half.

It seems like that’s what’s happening at the moment with the rivals round coming just three weeks after the same set of fixtures at Magic Weekend.

That might make sense to whoever at the RFL decides these things, but not to anyone else. Derbies may be integral to rugby league, but there can be too much of a good thing.

A huge Rivals Returns performance from Trinity 👏#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/FL6GYPoXBd

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 24, 2026