Wakefield Trinity head coach Daryl Powell questioned St Helens’ first try but conceded his side were not good enough as they fell to a 26-6 defeat at home.
After surprising many fans in Rounds One and Two with a win over Leeds Rhinos and a very competitive clash against Hull KR, Wakefield lined up against a St Helens side who had yet to be tested following two easy wins.
With over 7,000 at Belle Vue, Trinity failed to really give Saints a test as they lost out by four tries to one in a very sloppy display with head coach Daryl Powell focused on the number of errors that his side made.
An early penalty gave St Helens the lead before they extended it through Jack Welsby, a try that Powell would question. Both sides exchanged scores as Harry Robertson made up for a costly error by scoring one of his own, however, the Red Vee scored two more in the second half to secure the win.
Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Powell queried Saints’ first try but conceded that his side simply were not good enough on the day
He said: “I thought we were really off it in the first half but we were in shooting distance and then we gave a try away. I don’t think the first try is a try, it’s a three metre forward pass that you’d just give as a knock on but anyway such is life.
“We were within touching distance and then second half I didn’t think we really got into our game and I thought Saints were really good defensively. We tried to go too lateral at times but they were too good.”
Wakefield Trinity boss gives honest ‘not good enough’ verdict
FULL TIME: Wakefield Trinity 6-26 St Helens
Tough game for the Trin as they fall to St Helens.#UpTheTrin pic.twitter.com/7Qwyyimsvx
— Wakefield Trinity (@WTrinityRL) March 1, 2025
St Helens looked accomplished but often Wakefield made it too easy for them as they made more errors and missed more tackles, leaving the Trinity boss to call for improvement.
Powell admitted: “I thought they deserved to win today, I think there are some areas for us to really improve on. We’ll be disappointed today but we got some really good things about us but then there are some things against the better teams that you’ve got to be bang at it, and I just don’t think we were today.
“There were too many errors when we got in good attacking positions and a lack of composure so there are some real key areas for us to improve on.
“We need to improve quick because we’ve got Warrington away next week so it’s a fair challenge.”
Having made such a strong start in the opening two rounds it was somewhat of a surprising performance but one that Powell simply put down to the error count and a lack of execution.
“I just think we made too many errors,” he admitted.
“I don’t think we ever executed well and against the best teams you need to be really good with your skill and ours was off today. We put some real soft balls down and hurt ourselves. I thought we started both halves really poorly so we need to start working on it.
“We knew this first block was going to be really tough for us. We started well against Leeds, I thought we were close last week but that just wasn’t good enough today to beat the better teams.
“I think today was an off day but I think the first two were really good for us. I just don’t think we nailed it today. We just made too many errors to compete, we’ve got to tidy our game up a little bit.”
Previewing next week’s tough test away to Warrington Wolves, Powell’s former team, the Wakefield boss called on the player’s to be mentally strong after the stark contrast of their 2024 season which saw Trinity lose just once in the league.
He said: “I think if we tidy it up, hold our nerve, we’ve got a big game next week that we need to get right and get back on track.
“We won nearly every game last year and that’s not going to happen this year so mentally we’ve got to be really strong.”
