‘It’s big’: Wakefield Trinity make history in reaching maiden play-off semi-final as Daryl Powell praises ‘belief’

Having sealed their highest-ever finish of fourth in Super League by beating Leigh in the last game of the regular season last week, this pulsating 26-16 triumph, at a sold-out DIY Kitchens Stadium, ensured another record had tumbled.

Tries from Tyson Smoothy, Tom Johnstone, Isaiah Vagana and Caius Faatili did the damage in a largely dominant performance - and they could even afford to play the last 20 minutes with 12 men after Emre Guler was shown a straight red card.

“This game’s mad isn’t it?” Powell said after the exhausting knock-out tie. “In the first half I thought we were outstanding and we dominated the game like we did last week but the scoreline didn’t really show it.

“Obviously they scored just before half-time and then at the start of the second half I thought we blew them away. Emre getting sent off changed the game a little bit but I thought we did some really smart things to shut the game out.

“They did some smart things chasing the game as well. It ended up being helterskelter for the last 30 minutes. I thought we were awesome for large parts of the game and saw it out when we needed to.”

Guler was dismissed after an altercation with Owen Trout, although Powell didn’t think “there was that much in it.”

He said: “There might have been a bin but I don’t think it’s a punch. He’s reacted to heavy contact but I don’t think there’s any bad real intent in it.

“I don’t think it’s a red and I don’t think there should be anything to come from it to be honest. The sending off should be sufficient. It was pretty harsh.”

But he was impressed with the response of his side.

He went on: “You then start watching the clock don’t you? We had started the second half so well and built up a pretty commanding lead and felt like we would have gone on with it.

“You’re down to 12 against a team chasing the game and pretty much everything they tried stuck. They are one of those teams that when they start moving the ball from side to side they can cause you a lot of trouble. We had to deal with it and we dealt with it pretty well in the main.

“They are such a dangerous team when they start to move the ball. They’re dangerous against 13, and super dangerous against 12. There were a lot of desperate big plays that we came up with towards the end.

“We are getting better all the time, and we’re starting to believe a little bit more in every game, especially when you come through like that.”

Wigan Warriors or Leeds Rhinos await in the semis, depending on who comes out on top in the other elimination tie between Warrington Wolves and Hull KR later today.

On the historic result, Powell said: “It’s big. It was our last home game so we wanted to give our fans a decent send-off. We don’t know where we have to go to yet. We’ll see what happens and then we will prepare for what comes next week.

“I feel like we are in a great place. The pack is playing so well and that is always your foundation. The whole team is in a good place mentally.

“Wherever it is we will face up to it and get after the game and we will see how good we can be. We are capable of beating anybody but we have got to be right on top of our game.”