Mark Applegarth emerges as favourite to take over as Wakefield Trinity head coach

Poching and his assistant coach Francis Cummins were relieved of their duties on Monday following a season in which the Wakefield club found themselves in relegation danger before a remarkable turn around of fortunes in the closing weeks.

A number of names have since been linked with the head coach role, including Wakefield-born current Featherstone Rovers boss Brian McDermott, but in a surprise move the board is believed to be ready to appoint Mark Applegarth, who was part of Poching’s coaching team this year.

The Wakefield-born 37-year-old is a former Trinity player who made 47 appearances for his hometown club from 2004 to 2008.

He also had spells with York City Knights, Central Queensland Comets, in Australia, and Batley Bulldogs, before returning to Wakefield in 2016 where he has worked in a number of roles, including player performance manager and head of youth for four years.

He has also worked with the England Youth Rugby League set-up and his previous work with the club’s young players is thought to have been a factor in him being considered as head coach with the emergence of exciting young talent one of the positives to come out of Trinity in recent years.

Wakefield Trinity begin hunt for new coach after Willie Poching and Francis Cummins depart