Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell confident players will stay focused after League Leaders' Shield win

Trinity were presented with the League Leaders’ Shield after their 48-6 victory at Halifax Panthers meant they could not be caught at the top of the table.

It has been a fantastic transformation from a club relegated from the Super League ​and head coach Powell credited the players for making it happen and winning 20 of their 21 Championship games so far.

He said: “This is early to be getting a league Leaders’ Shield, but the players have deserved it, the way they have played and their attitude’s been unbelievable all year.

"I’m really pleased for them and the fans who have backed us massively.

“It’s been a really big team effort with a strong culture where everybody buys into what we’ve been doing.

"It takes a lot of effort to be consistent and we’ve done the job that’s been asked of us and done it really well.

"We know there’s some challenges yet for us this season, but I feel like we’re in a really good place to face up to those challenges.”

Powell is confident his players can remain focused for the remaining league games and be ready for the end of season play-offs to come.

He added: “You have performance standards that you want to achieve every single week.

"You have things that you focus on every week and you don’t really think about the big picture too much.

"I don’t think it will be a huge problem (staying motivated).

"I think this is a little bit different to Wembley, that’s a big one-off occasion. We’ll be fine.

"Obviously where the club is going in the future what we do for the rest of the season is pretty important to that.

"As a coaching staff we’re focused on keeping the boys tuned in and they’re good.

"We’ve got some players coming back in the next couple of weeks, which gives us strength in depth and competition for places. Everybody wants to play in a Grand Final and that’s the epitome of this game so I think we’ll be fine with that.”