Jay Pitts enjoying his rugby and happy to take on another two years with Wakefield Trinity

​Powell believes Pitts is playing some of the best rugby of his career and has fully earned a new two-year deal that will see the 35-year-old conclude his career with the club.

The contract extension will see Pitts bring the curtain down on an impressive career that has seen him play more than 400 career games and will take him into his 20th professional season.

“It’s a great piece of business by the club to retain Jay Pitts,” said Powell.

"His value to the team and the club is massive, on the field his work rate and ability to play the game as a 13 is invaluable to the team.

"Both on and off the field his leadership is outstanding, he sets high standards for others to follow and this consistency has been superb.

"I am really looking forward to continuing to work with Jay to help us achieve special things at Wakefield Trinity.

"He’s been a great performer for us and it was good to see him crown his 150th game (for Trinity) with a try. I feel like he’s probably playing the best rugby of his career at the moment.”

When Pitts eventually hangs up the boots he has already agreed to join the Trinity youth set-up as a coach.

He made his first team debut in 2008, coming off the bench against Wigan, before going on to make 22 appearances in his first stint for Trinity.

He found his way back to Wakefield in 2020 after stints at Leeds, Hull FC, Bradford and London.

Trinity’s recent 72-10 win over Salford Red Devils brought up Pitts’ 150th appearance for Wakefield.

He said: “I was a bit unsure going into this year whether I’d carry on playing or call it a day. Fortunately I’ve really enjoyed it and once the club said they were interested in offering me a deal to go again then I was raring to go and definitely want to re-sign.

"I feel like I’m playing some good rugby, but a lot of that’s down to the coaching staff and the players I’ve got around me.

"I fit into this team and how Powelly wants to play his rugby. It suits my game and the players around me are making it a lot easier for me. Hopefully we can carry on moving up that table.”

On his future after playing Pitts added: "We have come to an agreement that when the contract ends or we decide enough’s enough they have given me a pathway to go into coaching.

"It’s something I’ve been passionate about previously and I’ve done quite a lot of academy coaching.

"Being able to help younger players develop and make their debuts is something the game needs. It’s something I really enjoy and something I think I can help with going forward.”

Recruitment manager Ste Mills said: “We are delighted that we have been able to retain Jay, he’s been a very important cog in our culture off field as well as a very important part in our playing style on field.

“It was a no-brainer to offer him a new deal as everyone can see what he’s doing for us on the field. He is a real pillar of our organisation.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​