Wakefield Trinity are playing a waiting game with stand-off Jake Trueman ahead of their two-part series against Leigh Leopards.
A back injury meant the ex-Castleford Tigers pivot was an unexpected absentee when Trinity lost 16-12 to another of his former clubs, Hull FC, last Thursday, but he has retained his place in the 21-man squad for the Super League fixture at Leigh in two days’ time.
Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Wednesday), Wakefield coach Daryl Powell said Trueman is on the mend, but a decision hasn’t been made about whether he’ll play this week.
With stand-off Mason Lino and scrum-half Oliver Russell combining well against Hull, Powell won’t rush Trueman’s return.
“He has improved,” Powell confirmed. “We will give him until later in the week, but I thought the halves did a decent job.
“They didn’t have a massive amount of time to prepare because we thought Jake was going to be all right, but they’ve spent a bit more time this week so we’ll see how the end of the week goes.”
Trueman has been hit by long-term knee and Achilles injuries in recent seasons, but Powell stressed the latest setback is not believed to be as serious.
He said: “He has got a muscle injury in his back that we don’t think is that bad, but it’s taking a little bit of time to clear up.
“It is hanging around a bit longer than we thought it might and at this moment in time, we’re just seeing how he is day by day before deciding whether he gets on the field or not.
“He will be pretty frustrated, but I don’t think he is too far away. He just needs to keep working on getting himself right. When we get him back out there, we know how good he can be.”
Wakefield Trinity are still without full-back Max Jowitt after he was hurt in the Cup win at Huddersfield Giants two weeks ago.
“He came out of the boot earlier in the week and he has still got some sort of pain in his lower leg,” Powell said.
“We’re not 100 per cent sure exactly when he’ll be back. It’s not going to be that long, but we’ll see how he feels as we roll through this next couple of weeks.”
Trinity meet Leigh again a week after the Super League encounter, when they will have had advantage in a Cup quarter-final.
Powell stressed it’s too early to say if Jowitt will be fit for the knockout clash. “I don’t know,” he said.
“We haven’t got a time scale; we’ve got over a week before the Cup game and will just see how he goes as he gets back on his feet and see how quickly he gets back to full strength in his leg.”
The only change to Trinity’s 21-man squad for this Friday sees Isaiah Vagana returns after a shoulder injury in place of centre Corey Hall, who is ruled out with rib damage sustained against Hull.
🔁 Daryl Powell names his 21-man squad to take on Leigh Leopards in Round 6 of the Betfred Super League!!
Isaiah Vagana makes a return with Corey Hall dropping out.
👉🏻 https://t.co/AbVeTygZaT#UpTheTrin pic.twitter.com/w8MteHEBjQ
— Wakefield Trinity (@WTrinityRL) March 26, 2025
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