Kear hopes Wakefield Trinity can give Castleford Tigers a '˜good hiding'

Wakefield Trinity's head of rugby John Kear will put his personal admiration for Castleford Tigers to one side, hoping that Trinity can give their near neighbours 'a good hiding' when the rivals meet tomorrow, Thursday.
John KearJohn Kear
John Kear

Fifth-placed Trinity host the Betfred Super League leaders in what should be a cracking derby and while Kear has a soft spot for Castleford, having played for his hometown club for 10 years, his allegiance is firmly with Wakefield. He said: “I have got personal admiration for them [Castleford]. I supported them as a kid and I played for them so there is an emotional attachment as well but I would love to give them a good hiding tomorrow.”

That won’t be easy, given Tigers are setting the “benchmark” in Super League this season, according to Kear, but he also thinks that Wakefield have a good chance of upsetting their rivals.

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Kear said: “We have been pretty good at home. Cas on their travels haven’t been as good as Cas at the Jungle so we have a chance.

“At this level of rugby league it’s very small margins and we have to attempt to make sure those small margins go in our favour.

“We have got to bring our ‘A’ game as individuals and as a group.”

Kear added: “We have got to start strongly. They [Tigers] started really well when we played them there [the Jungle]. They had got the game sewn up by half-time so we have got to do our level best to make sure that doesn’t happen.

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“The longer we are in the game, the more our confidence and belief will grow. The start of the game is essential and that’s the message that has already gone out to the players.”

Kear said: “Motivation won’t be an issue, especially on our side and I am sure on the Cas side as well.

“You can tell that the players know it’s a special game. In fact, I think we might have to take a little bit of the emotion out of it so we can be efficient in going through the processes of rugby league.”