‘I expect us to be outstanding’ - Daryl Powell’s Wakefield Trinity return to Championship action against Widnes Vikings after Wembley triumph
Wakefield Trinity’s head coach Daryl Powell expects his side to be “outstanding” at Widnes Vikings in round 11 of the Championship on Sunday (June 16, kick off 3pm) as they look to avoid a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’.
Powell led Trin to a superb 50-6 victory over Sheffield Eagles to claim the 1895 Cup at Wembley last Saturday. But, after two deserved rest days at the beginning of the week, Wakefield’s thoughts return to league action where they will be looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season at the DCBL Stadium.
Powell said: “It is one of the challenges of coaching around big games. What do you say? How do you continue to stimulate the players? It is important to us to continue to be consistent in the league. At the end of it you are talking about the play-offs and the Grand Final and we want to be doing that obviously.
“But to do that we want to be as consistent as we can. We’re all aware that this next game is a difficult one but it’s just what we do for a job. We have played a game on a Saturday, now we have got an eight-day turnaround which is helpful and the boys should be fine.
“We will put a really strong team out there and I expect us to be outstanding.”
It has been a remarkable transformation at the club since suffering relegation from Super League last September, with Powell installed as head coach by new owner Matt Ellis.
And Powell insisted even the journey back to West Yorkshire from Wembley has created more positive bonds between the group as they look to continue this seemingly one-way trajectory throughout 2024.
He said: “The trip back created even more depth and connection between the players themselves and the coaching staff. All those things mean you grow as a club and for us going down to the Championship is going to be such a catalyst.
“Matt taking over and doing what he’s doing, the whole thing just really sets us up first of all for the second half of the season, and then for what we do in the future.”