Boss Daryl Powell says Wakefield Trinity players should use their Man of Steel snub as motivation for the final third of the season.

Trinity have lost only one of their last nine games, are on a five-match winning run and sit third in Betfred Super League, behind Wigan Warriors on for and against and two points adrift of leaders Leeds Rhinos. Despite that, they didn’t have any players included when the latest Man of Steel top-10 was revealed this week.

A panel of past winners drew up the list based on performances in rounds 10 to 18 and - speaking at his weekly press conference today (Thursday) ahead of tomorrow’s home derby against Castleford Tigers, to be refereed by Tom Grant - Powell insisted: “I think our boys should use it as motivation that none of them are in there.”

The coach stressed: “I don’t worry about that too much; we have all got our own opinions and mine is that I am not sure it’s right, but it’s subjective and it is what it is. I haven’t spoken about it - I think the boys will take it on themselves to talk about that among themselves. I am not going to make too much of it.”

Wakefield Trinity's Mike McMeeken isn't in the Man of Steel top-10, despite consistently good form this year. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

placeholder image — Wakefield Trinity's Mike McMeeken isn't in the Man of Steel top-10, despite consistently good form this year. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

The chance to go level on points with Rhinos is of more importance to Powell, who reckons a top-two finish - and home semi-final in the play-offs - is well within Trinity’s reach. “We have just got to keep plugging away week to week, winning games, picking up points, staying tough mentally and not looking too far ahead,” the team boss insisted.

“We are in a great position. It is set up for us to go on with it. We’ve got eight games left, five at home and three away. I think the home games are really important, making sure we get the results and play the way we want to play.

“We’ll just prepare as well as we can and deal with each game on its own merits. They are all going to be different, we have been great at laying the foundation in games and then reaping the rewards and I think it’s important we keep doing that and keep our mentality where it has been.”

Wakefield Trinity celebrate one of their nine tries in the 48-6 Magic Weekend win against Castleford Tigers three weeks ago. Picture by Callum Pilkington/SWpix.com.

Trinity are aiming for a third win of the season against Tigers, having cruised to a 34-0 away success at Easter and an even more comprehensive 48-6 Magic Weekend victory earlier this month. But Castleford stunned Rhinos 36-34 last Sunday and Powell warned: “We played them three weeks ago and since then they’ve been really competitive at Leigh and they won against Leeds, who are flying.

“They are scoring some quality tries and they throw a lot at you. We need to focus on doing our jobs well. We’ve played them in two games we’ve won comfortably, but it’s absolutely crucial we focus on what we need to do in this one and not feel like that job has been done before it is.

“That’s key for us this week. We’ve got a game against a team who were outstanding last week so we have got to keep our heads in the present and not look too far into the future.”