Wakefield Trinity man Matty Storton reveals why he left Hull KR

New Wakefield Trinity forward Matty Storton has revealed the aim behind his move from Hull KR.

The 25-year-old hasn’t had to wait long for a reunion with his former teammates, as the Robins provide the opposition on Thursday in Trinity’s first home Betfred Super League game since returning to the competition.

Storton spent five seasons as a Robin, earning runners-up medals at Wembley in 2023 and Old Trafford last year, but 57 of his 95 Super League appearances were off the bench and he admitted: “I wanted to be in the starting 13 every week, that was one of my goals.”

Storton stressed: “At KR I struggled for game time sometimes; they are an awesome team with some great players and I struggled to get in the team at times, but I am liking my role at the moment.

“It’s good to have a change and sometimes you need a change in your career. The coaches have put a lot of faith in me, I am playing back-row and really enjoying that, so I am really happy at the moment.”

Trinity, who got their campaign off to a flying start last Saturday when they won 14-12 at Leeds Rhinos, are determined to establish themselves as a top club in Super League during the three years of Storton’s current contract.

The East Yorkshire side finished bottom of Super League table in his first season after joining them from Bradford Bulls, so Storton knows what it takes and reckons Wakefield Trinity are further down the track than Rovers were five years ago.

“It is a similar feel, but I think this team is a lot better than we were at that time at KR,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of quality in this team, we know what we can do and it’s hopefully going to be a great year.

“We’ve got Matt [owner Matt Ellis], who’s really hands-on at the club and has put a lot of money in and we have to show that faith back to him.

“We’ve also got great coaching staff and great players and a great bunch of lads as well, which goes a long way towards having a good season.

“I think we can build and build every year. We are really looking forward to the challenge. We’ve got a lot of young, hungry lads and a lot of older heads who are good leaders.

“In the next couple of years, hopefully we can achieve silverware. I feel like we’ve got a great environment to do that.”

The victory at Headingley proved Wakefield Trinity mean business and Storton added: “It is always good to get a win in round one, but we know how good we are.

“A lot of people are writing us off and we are using that as a bit of fuel. The win last week is going to put us in really good stead for the rest of the year.

“Sometimes it [being written off] does annoy you as a player, but you have to show it out on the pitch and in results and we proved ourselves against Leeds, who are a top team.”

Storton will defy a torn ligament in a finger to play against his old club this week and knows another win would make the rest of Super League take notice.

“They are a very fit team,” he said of the Robins. “They go set-for-set, they’ve got good line speed and really good middles.

“There are things we can exploit, that we’ve looked at, so hopefully we can do that and get the win.

“It’s going to be a great night of rugby league, the boys are ready to go and it would be really good if we could get another win, but we are just taking it game by game.”