Yesterday Wakefield Trinity confirmed that they would be taking on Featherstone Rovers on 29th January as they prepare for a new era under Mark Applegarth and James Ford following the departure of Willie Poching and Francis Cummins.
Now they’ve followed that up with confirmation of another pre-season friendly against a local rival in the shape of Halifax Panthers on 15th January.
The game will also act as star centre and former Hull FC man Reece Lyne’e testimonial.
It’s a new era at Trinity with a new coach, work being done on the stadium and work being done behind the scenes to secure signings to follow in the footsteps of their only new recruit so far for 2023 in the shape of Featherstone Rovers halfback Morgan Smith.
After missing out on James Tamou who completed a move to North Queensland Cowboys this morning, Trinity are widely expected to announce the signing of former Gold Coast Titans and Melbourne Storm forward Kevin Proctor on a “very lucrative deal” for 2023.
Halifax themselves have been busy this week announcing the signing of former Castleford Tigers and Hull KR prop Will Maher on a two year deal.
He previously played at the Shay on loan from the Tigers.
He underlined how he believed Halifax could finish even higher than their respectable third place finish in 2022 and push for a place in Super League.
This will be the ideal test to show whether they are likely to push for promotion in 2023 as they help celebrate Lynne’s fantastic career.