Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell has hailed star winger Tom Johnstone ahead of his 200th career appearance.
Johnstone will rack up the milestone number this week as Trinity take on Leigh Leopards at Belle Vue.
The German-born England international has made 143 appearances for Wakefield across two stints, 46 for Catalans Dragons, two for Featherstone Rovers and eight for England.
In his Trinity career alone he has racked up over a century of tries, and is currently in some of the form of his life after being selected for his nation in the recent Ashes series against Australia.
Injury has hampered his return to action in 2026, but after returning to the side in victory over Leeds Rhinos, Johnstone looks to have hit the ground running and some, in what is a huge boost for Powell’s side.
The Wakefield boss spoke to the press to preview the game against Leigh, and he had nothing but praise for the 30-year-old.
“He’s quite unassuming Tom,” said Powell on his star winger. “He’s not jumping up and down telling people how good he is. I think he’s the other way really.
“You try give him more and more confidence on a weekly basis because when you see the way he can play then he’s a phenomenal player. I thought last week was as good as I’ve seen him play for a fair while.
“He looked a genuine international player. For me now it’s just consistency with him. He’s only played one game so he’s going to get better than that I would suggest.”
On how Johnstone played injured, through 2025, Powell explained: “100% he needed some surgery.
“We just put off to the end of the year because he could get through it. He was missing quite a lot of training.
I think there’s been a couple of things [that has seen him improve]. I think you’re always looking with players. That was my first year coaching Tom last year. When you get to know a player a fair bit more, you can help players a bit more when you know them better.
“…I just want to see him have an unbelievable year. I know he’s got high aspirations at an international level.
“First and foremost every week he’s got to get tuned in and play well and be consistent. That’s what international players do and I’m expecting it from him.”
Wakefield Trinity boss opens up on wing selection battle
Whilst Johnstone is one of the players nailed on to start, the opposite wing is much more open, with a number of players having a chance in the early part of the season to stake a claim to be named as the starting edge.
Jayden Myers, Will Tate and Lachlan Walmsley have all had chances in the opening few rounds, whilst Oliver Pratt, who is more natural at centre, was handed the number two jersey at the start of the season.
“There’s some positions [in the squad] that are nailed, and then there’s others that I’m just wanting players to step up and show some consistency.
“That’s their challenge. I thought Jayden was pretty good last week, carrying the ball in particular. We know our right edge is going to have to defend well this week.
It’s their main edge with [Lachlan] Lam there and Tesi Niu. We’re aware of that threat, and those guys are going to need to be outstanding this week. That’s what I’m looking for, the players on the right edge to step up.”
