Wakefield Trinity 24-38 Catalans Dragons: Player ratings and talking points

Tom Johnstone returned to Belle Vue to devastate his former side on a night where Wakefield Trinity missed a chance to beat a Catalans Dragons side missing eight players including six nailed on starters.

Talking Points

Johnstone is top class
Is Tom Johnstone the best winger in Super League when fit? A sensational finisher who can score every kind of try. For his second tonight he showed amazing athleticism with an amazing leap over his former teammates. The task will be keeping him fit for the full season. He did pick up a knock in the first half which will have had Catalans worried but he ran it off and got the score board ticking.

Wakefield aren’t the side people think
There is an assumption amongst some fans that Wakefield have a weak side that isn’t good enough and will easily be relegated but they are anything but. They have a good spine who will stretch teams and exciting players with strike on the edges. In a lot of ways they were the better team to watch for the most of the game.

Super League’s next great find
Super League’s next great discovery from the NRL seems to be Adam Keighran. He was exceptional as he pulled the strings. For a centre playing in the halves he kicked incredibly. Credit Cesar Rouge as well, the young man was a real leader in the halves.

Kicked to death
Catalans scored four tries from kicks tonight and always amped up the pressure with kicks too to pin Trinity deep in their own half. This exacerbated plenty of errors from the home side.

A game Wakefield should have won
It was a game that Wakefield could have and perhaps should have won tonight. When they had the ball, they looked dangerous but errors gave a Catalans side missing eight players including six nailed on starters control of the match. A missed opportunity for a side many expect to be relegated come the end of the season.

Player Ratings:

Wakefield Trinity
1 Max Jowitt – 8
5 Tom Lineham – 6
4 Reece Lyne – 7
21 Samisoni Langi – 6
23 Lewis Murphy – 6
6 Lee Gaskell – 7
7 Mason Lino – 8
10 Jai Whitbread – 7
20 Morgan Smith – 8
17 Renouf Atoni – 6
13 Jay Pitts – 7
11 Matty Ashurst – 7
19 Kevin Proctor – 8
Substitutes
15 Liam Kay – 7
8 Eddie Battye  – 7
22 Rob Butler – 7
3 Corey Hall – 7

Catalans Dragons
1 Arthur Mourgue – 8
2 Tom Davies – 8
11 Matt Whitley – 7
4 Matthieu Laguerre – 8
24 Tom Johnstone – 9
3 Adam Keighran – 9
17 Cesar Rouge – 8
16 Romain Navarrete – 7
9 Michael McIlorum – 7
10 Julian Bousquet – 7
26 Manu Ma’u – 7
12 Paul Seguier – 7
13 Ben Garcia – 7
Substitutes
23 Jordan Dezaria – 7
15 Mickael Goudemand – 7
18 Tiaki Chan – 7
31 Tanguy Zenon – 7