Wakefield Trinity’s Daryl Powell has revealed his thoughts on the decision to increase the Super League overseas quota.
From next season clubs will be allowed to have 10 foreign players in their squad, three more than this year. Trinity have already announced two imports for 2026 – Manly Sea Eagles’ Samoan international forward Jazz Tevaga and Australian hooker Tyson Smoothy from Brisbane Broncos – and Powell reckons the higher quota will boost the Super League player pool.
There are fears the increase could harm the chances of home-grown players and the Wakefield coach stressed: “I get it, I understand it – we have got to continue to strive to develop young English players. I think that’s massively important.” But he added: “At the same time, we are potentially expanding the competition over here [from 12 clubs to 14].
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with that, but I think the depth of English talent is not quite where you’d want it to be for that to happen. To keep the quality, I think it is probably a decent move, but we do have to be mindful of making sure we are a development club as well.
“That is really important to us and we are working on all fronts to make sure our development is where it needs to be. I am massively in favour of developing young British talent, but also recognise we want the depth in the game over here to make sure the quality is where it needs to be, so we make sure we get a new TV deal, for example. There’s wider things at play, but young British talent is really important to us as a club.”
Powell said there could “potentially” be more overseas signings to come at Wakefield for next season. “We are discussing that and we’ll make some decisions over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “I think most clubs will be looking at what they are doing, what’s available and what can you do to strengthen your squad.”
