Jubilant smile returns to Jowitt’s face as record breaker seeks ‘consistency’ in Super League

It was a record breaking 12 months for Wakefield Trinity’s star full-back, who became the first British player to score 500 points in a season, as the club won all three trophies on offer to them before gaining an instant return to Super League.

2023, by his own admission, however, was a completely different story as the enjoyment factor of playing rugby league for his hometown club was seemingly drained from him.

A long injury lay-off at the start of that campaign didn’t help, with Jowitt going on to make only 15 appearances as Trinity were relegated from the top tier after a 24-year stay.

“In a weird way, it’s probably the best thing that could have happened to us,” Wakefield’s number one admitted.

It was a fresh start. New owner. New head coach and backroom staff. New players. And they all combined to produce an astonishing campaign as Daryl Powell’s troops blasted their way to 25 wins out of 26 Championship games to easily secure the League Leaders’ Shield, before thrashing Toulouse 36-0 in the Grand Final.

And who can forget the sublime triumph in the 1895 Cup final at Wembley?

Winners are certainly grinners.

Jowitt said: “The club is just a completely different place. We have put everything else behind us (from 2023) and it is a fresh start for us to prove what we can do.

“A good thing about last year was playing with a smile on my face and back to enjoying rugby again.

“Now I am looking for that consistency week in, week out and helping the team in whatever way possible. That is one of my main goals.

“As a team, we just want to be competitive.”

What Jowitt achieved on a personal level - notching a half century of points in a single season - was a remarkable feat in itself.

It was a world record which had stood since the 1956-57 campaign when Leeds’ Lewis Jones scored 496 points.

Asked if his achievement took a while to sink in over the off-season, Jowitt replied:

“It did a bit. It still doesn’t feel real when you see the names who are up on that list and how long the last record stood for. It’s a bit weird seeing your own name at the top of there but hopefully it is going to stay there for a while.

“For me, personally, it is something that I want to remember but it’s something that I need to put at the back of my mind and concentrate on this season.

“I just want to help Wakefield become a competitive team in Super League and do my part for the team, whether that’s playing different positions or just consistently performing.

“It’s our first season back in Super League and it needs to be a big one. We don’t want to be the Wakefield just surviving in Super League - we want to be challenging for Challenge Cups, play-off spots and silverware.

“That is probably a long-term thing but we do want to be challenging straightaway.”