Super League 2020 Preview - Wakefield Trinity

Wakefield Trinity had to wait until the final day of the season and a 19-10 victory over London Broncos to preserve their Super League status. It was more than just a brush with relegation and it came at the end of a year when Chris Chester’s side were supposed to have been genuine top five contenders.

Few things were as unreliable as Wakefield in 2019. They started the season with a heavy defeat to the Broncos at Ealing, picking up their first win of the season in Round 3 when they saw off Catalans Dragons 22-12. An abject 10-6 defeat at home to Hull KR in Round 5 came on the back of another tonking at Leeds, and though they won four of their next five including wins over Wigan, Hull and Salford, it didn’t get any better than win-one-lose-one from there on in. A second loss of the season at London started a run of five straight defeats. They arrested that slide with a win over Huddersfield but then embarked on another losing run of five games before seeing off Hull KR in mid-August. Two more losses followed before that final day over London rescued Trinity from the drop to the second level.

Wakefield’s struggles were almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. Coach Chris Chester was murmuring about the ‘R’ word long before the end of the season. Injuries had played their part with star turns Tom Johnstone and Bill Tupou having long-term fitness problems, but it was the inconsistency of a still talented group of players allied with Chester’s premature negativity which combined to leave Trinity on the brink.

In a bid to make 2020 a more successful year Chester has made several moves in the transfer market. Out have gone forwards Pauli Pauli, Tyler Randell, Chris Annakin, Anthony England and Keegan Hirst, replaced by Chris Green and Joe Westerman from Hull FC, Jay Pitts from London Broncos and the on-loan Adam Tangata from Halifax. It will be a very different looking pack which turns out for Trinity in 2020, but it isn’t looking like one that will be any more reliable. Of the old guard that remain Matty Ashurst is the standout in the second row along with the seemingly ageless pair of Danny Kirmond and Craig Kopczak while Tinirau Arona has quality if he can stay fit following a prolonged spell on the side-lines along with former Warrington man George King.

In the backs Ryan Atkins returns after 10 years spent entertaining everyone at Warrington. Atkins was one of the better centres in the competition for a brief period around five years ago, and has crossed for over 200 tries in his Super League career. But at 34 it is doubtful whether he still carries that kind of threat. It seems far more likely that he will be entertaining us with gaffes like his premature dive for the try-line, or the numerous occasions in which he has claimed tries after having entered into the same time zone as the try-line. Alex Walker is a much better prospect long-term. He caught the eye at fullback for the Broncos in 2019 and at 24 his best years should be ahead of him.

If we are looking for positives the return to fitness of both Johnstone and Tupou will be vital, while the three-quarter line also boasts a man who has pushed his way into the thoughts of England and Great Britain coach Wayne Bennett in Reece Lyne. Ben Jones-Bishop is another potent weapon in the Wakefield backline but he will miss the first few months of the season through an unspecified medical condition. The halfback combination of Danny Brough and Jacob Miller has plenty of experience and will also be crucial in deciding how Wakefield go this term. Ryan Hampshire may also see some time in that area with the arrival of Walker seemingly having locked up the fullback spot.

Statistically almost everything Wakefield did in 2019 was average. They were eighth in the league in tries scored (102), metres made (34,319), runs from dummy half (366) and seventh in missed tackles (1011) and offloads (287). They struggled at marker defence where only Hull FC managed fewer than their 1,346 tackles and only the relegated Broncos got less bang for their buck with ball in hand, making an average of 6.41 metres per carry compared with Wakefield’s fairly dismal 6.84 metres per carry.

Wakefield have one of the more gentle season openers that Super League can provide as they go to Hull KR on January 31 in Round 1. If they can negotiate that they have a pair of home games to look forward to against Catalans Dragons and Warrington. Round 4 brings a trip to Castleford for what is always a tense West Yorkshire derby, and then Trinity begin March with a trip to 2019 Grand Finalists Salford Red Devils. Three of last year’s top five in the first five rounds looks a tricky start then, but these are the kind of games that Trinity need to be competitive in and even winning if they are going to avoid of last year’s disappointing campaign.

Wakefield have the talent and the quality to do almost anything, but they have to find a level of consistency. You can’t help feeling that it won’t happen for them in 2020 and they could find themselves closer to the bottom of the table than the top this time around.