Why Wakefield Trinity will make the Super League play-offs as seven-year drought set to end

Wakefield Trinity could become one of a handful of Super League teams to make the play-offs a year after earning promotion and there’s plenty of reasons to believe that they will do that.

The most recent example of a team earning promotion and then making the six is Leigh Leopards and Adrian Lam’s side have become a mainstay in the play-offs since then, currently sitting in fourth place.

Similar to Leigh, Wakefield built their squad whilst in the Championship whilst also retaining plenty of talent from their previous campaign in Super League with the likes of Max Jowitt proving essential for Trinity this year.

Recruitment has been exceptional with England internationals Mike McMeeken and Tom Johnstone adding pure class whilst players such as Caius Faatili have also been unearthed.

Sitting one point outside of the top six currently, Wakefield have certainly face a fight to make the six but there are plenty of reasons that suggest they will manage it.

Why Wakefield Trinity will make the top six in Super League

Bottom four fixtures

In their 11 remaining games, Wakefield take on teams from Super League’s current bottom four a whopping six times. The only downside would be that four of those games are away from home but it shouldn’t be a concern given Trinity’s quality.

They will take on Salford twice on the road where four points and a large boost to their points difference would be expected, whilst they also travel to Huddersfield and to local rivals Castleford.

That means they have homes games against the Giants and Catalans with the Dragons heading to Belle Vue this Saturday evening. Trinity are three and one in games against the bottom four in Super League this year, having also beaten Huddersfield in the cup so Daryl Powell will be confident of at least ten points from these fixtures.

Rivals’ fixtures

Whilst Trinity face the bottom four on six occasions between now and the end of the season, none of the other play-off chasers have such an easy run-in. St Helens, who sit three points ahead in fifth, play just three games against the bottom four but also play a whopping five games against the current top four.

Hull FC also only play three games against the current top four, all of which come at home which would actually be a concern given the Black and Whites’ awful home record, having not won at the MKM since last July.

Warrington could be the danger, but they do sit two points behind Trinity, as Sam Burgess’ side also have six games against the current bottom four. Like Trinity, they also play three games against the current top four. Regardless of Wire’s favourable fixture run, Wakefield are already ahead and need to be looking up the table and not down.

Injury returns

Not only do Trinity have far more favourable fixtures than their challengers, they also play Hull FC and St Helens meaning their fate is in their hands in the battles against their play-off rivals. There’s also a chance that by the time those fixtures come around, Wakefield have some of their injured stars back.

It’s been understated but Wakefield have been one of the teams most affected by injury in 2025 with the majority of their pack missing for long periods. Mike McMeeken, who has missed the last two games and is close to a return, has bore the brunt of the weight with Caius Faatili breaking through and the ever-reliable Jay Pitts putting in superb shifts.

However, they’re still awaiting the returns of Caleb Hamlin-Uele (arm), Matty Storton (knee), Ky Rodwell (knee) and Renouf Atoni (calf), as well as Matthieu Cozza who recently suffered an ankle injury. Those players will slowly start to filter back in the coming weeks and months giving Wakefield their best chance to make the Super League play-offs since 2018.

Play-Off hopes kept alive in Round 16 👀

Here’s how the @Betfred #SuperLeague table is looking 👇 pic.twitter.com/e8JWMzXKNZ

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) June 29, 2025