Wakefield Trinity hoping for better news with injuries after losing two back-rowers for Leeds Rhinos clash
Wakefield Trinity have been handed mixed news on the injury front ahead of their next big test against the current Super League leaders.
The big games keep coming for Daryl Powell’s men as after their narrow defeat to St Helens they now make the shorter trip to Headingley to take on a Leeds Rhinos side in great form.
And they will be hoping to have winger Tom Johnstone, full-back Max Jowitt and half-back Mason Lino available for the match after they had to sit out the trip to the BrewDog Stadium last weekend.
But Trinity will definitely be without their two first choice back-rowers with Isaiah Vagana still out with a shoulder injury and now joined on the sidelines by Seth Nikotemo who failed a head injury assessment.
“Seth got a concussion, so he will be out of the game next week and that puts us a couple of back-rowers down now,” explained head coach Powell.
"Tom dropped out of the team (at St Helens) and he’s a cutting-edge player for us. Isaiah Vagana has been unbelievable for us.
“Everybody in the comp has been talking about injuries and we’ve been alright-ish but we’ve got a couple at the moment, big players that are missing.
“Obviously, Mason has been missing and Max, so we’ve got a few players who are injured, but I think in a healthy competition we’re in a good spot and good place to go and get after the rest of the season.”
Wakefield have already beaten Leeds this season in the Challenge Cup, but the Rhinos have won their last four league games and Powell sees Friday’s test against them as a key one for his team.
He said: "There’s another stiff challenge ahead now against Leeds who are flying.
"I think we said in these two games, Saints and Leeds, that we need to come out of them really challenging.
“I felt like we needed to win one of the two. So Leeds is a big game for us now.
“We’re not far off. I think we’ve had an awesome start to the season. If we do get beat, we’re not getting beat by much.
"We’ve got a high quality team here of really good blokes, but high quality rugby league players. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.