Wakefield Trinity have progressed through to the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup, as they come one step closer to reaching their first Cup Final in 47 years.
Wakefield went into the game as underdogs, but a brilliant performance from last year’s sixth placed team saw Leeds crash out of the cup before the last eight for the sixth consecutive season.
Just six minutes into the game, a power outage occurred, leaving the stadium in total darkness. After a stoppage of around 25 minutes, the lights came back on and the game was restarted, in what was certainly a unique scenario.
Powell spoke to the BBC after the game, and was asked what his message to the side was during the outage, as the teams left the field and went back into the changing rooms.
“We were just talking about how we’d started really,” the boss explained. “Just a couple of sets there, and we’d done some things well, and some things not so good, and we were just discussing that.
“We weren’t sure whether we were going to have to come back another day, but thankfully we got the game on, and that’s a big win for us.”
Despite the victory, there were still plenty of things that the boss wants his side to work on as they continue to improve on their performances as the weeks progress.
“I just felt like we weren’t finishing our sets great,” Powell said. “We gave them a seventh tackle, and then Tom [Johnstone] runs in to touch and that sort of gave Leeds what they needed. They’re pretty good when they get on your line and I don’t think our right edge handled that very well.
“Half-time was just about ‘look, we’re alright, we’re in a good spot here.’
“That [Oli Pratt] try before half-time helped, that’s two weeks on the trot we’ve done that, and that helped.
“I just felt like we were in the game. I felt like we could get away from them, I think [there was] a bit of pressure on them, having the schedule they’ve had and I just thought we wore them down in the end. The boys were class, I thought.”
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Wakefield Trinity boss delighted with Jack Sinfield performance
Former Leeds man Jack Sinfield proved to be the star of the show, as another exceptional performance from the Trinity half-back helped his side to victory.
Sinfield joined the club in the off-season, and was met with a number of boos and jibes from the travelling Leeds faithful.
However, the playmaker was able to shrug those off and produce another emphatic display.
“He’s just been phenomenal really,” Powell said on Sinfield’s development. “He came in pre-season, Mason Lino missed a lot of pre-season, so Jack got loads of reps with Truey [Jake Trueman] and you can see that when he’s come into the team.
“He’s handled it really well, he’s real mature for his age, and he’s done so many good things.
“There’s a lot to like about him as a person and a player, so yeah, I’ve been real pleased with him.”
