Wakefield Trinity in 2024: Looking back on Trin’s memorable treble-winning year

It was a year full of highs for Daryl Powell’s men who remarkably claimed the 1895 Cup at Wembley before lifting the League Leaders’ Shield and winning the Championship Grand Final.

The silverware clean sweep was then topped off with the official confirmation from IMG that Wakefield had regained their Super League status - back in the big time, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Wigan Warriors, St Helens and Leeds Rhinos.

Powell was confirmed as the new head coach in October 2023 after boyhood fan Matt Ellis took over ownership of the club.

“You got a sense of his drive to support the growth of the club and to help make Wakefield a top club in Super League,” Powell had said of Ellis to the Wakefield Express.

New, exciting signings arrived. The brand spanking new main stand opened. The rebuild - following Trin’s relegation from the top table - had begun.

Their 25-year stay in Super League may have come to an abrupt end but Powell was determined right from the very start to create “special” memories during the club’s “next chapter.”

He would certainly deliver on this promise.

The blossoming new era commenced with five wins from six in the Challenge and 1895 cups even before a Championship ball had been thrown. The only blemish in that run was a close Challenge Cup defeat at local rivals Featherstone Rovers.

But their scoring prowess was there for all to see. Trin notched up 338 points over those half-dozen cup games - and added 42 more in their first league fixture at home to Bradford Bulls.

A double from Josh Griffin and efforts from Jack Croft and Oliver Pratt gave Trin a commanding 26-8 lead half-time, before debutant Derrell Olpherts, Max Jowitt and Lachlan Walmsley got in on the action in the second half.

“It was a really good performance from the boys to start our Championship campaign off,” said Powell after the 42-12 victory.

Revenge against Fev followed before Doncaster, York Knights, Batley Bulldogs and Toulouse were all swept away in April.

Attention turned back to the 1895 Cup in May where Wakefield secured a first appearance at Wembley since 1979 after a superb second half display in the semi-finals at Bradford.

Trinity had to recover from an early 8-0 deficit and, although they were still behind at half-time despite Ky Rodwell’s try, a double from captain Matty Ashurst, in his last year with the club, and efforts from Liam Hood, Jermaine McGillvary, Renouf Atoni and Olpherts sealed an emphatic 40-14 victory.

All in front of the highest attendance - 5,340 - for an 1895 Cup fixture outside of Wembley.

Before Trin could think about their historic trip to the national stadium they had three league games with Swinton Lions, Whitehaven and Dewsbury Rams to negotiate. Three wins followed.

Then the moment everyone associated with the club had waited 45 years for. Thousands dressed in red, white and blue descended on the iconic venue from West Yorkshire, as a new generation of Trin supporters experienced a Wembley final for the first time since 1979.

Their opponents were Sheffield Eagles, whose previous Wembley exploits in the 1990s need no explanation. They were also the first ever winners of the 1895 Cup in 2019 but they had it all to do against a strong Trinity side.

And Trin, as expected, turned on the style to run in nine tries on their way to a stunning 50-6 victory under the arch. Six of those scores came in the second half - from just three players, Pratt, Josh Griffin and McGillvary, in his first ever appearance at Wembley, who all got doubles - as the Eagles were blown away.

Days like this had been few and far between. But players, staff and fans celebrated wildly. Barely five months into the new campaign, the new era, a connection was rapidly building.

“I am proud to see the club grow and develop so quickly,” Powell said after the Wembley win.

“To come down to the Champ and refresh as a club, and as a team, and connect with the fans again, and for them to see what it means to the players, and for the players to see what it means to the fans, creating that connection helps to create a really strong, vibrant club.”

A return to league action brought five consecutive wins before they tasted their first Championship defeat at Toulouse on a hot day in the south of France.

Trinity responded emphatically, 46-18 victors over Featherstone Rovers, before another four comfortable wins, over rock-bottom Dewsbury Rams, Sheffield Eagles, Widnes Vikings and Halifax Panthers, saw them lift the League Leaders’ Shield at The Shay in late August.

Full of praise, Powell said: “The players have deserved it, the way they have played and their attitude’s been unbelievable all year.”

Two trophies down. One to go.

Would Wakey take their foot off the gas? Of course not. Swinton were beaten 60-0, Whitehaven 60-6. York got closer, 20-4, but Barrow, 46-0, and Doncaster, 72-6, could not lay a glove.

York got even closer in the play-off semi-final but Trinity prevailed 22-13.

“There is a big lesson there for us,” Powell warned. And his players certainly listened as they saved their best performance of the season for the game that truly mattered - the Championship Grand Final.

On a wonderful, emotional night at Belle Vue, where Max Jowitt broke the all-time record for most points scored by a player in a single season, and four departing Wakefield players - Olpherts, Ashurst, McGillvary and Iain Thornley - got on the trysheet, Trin produced a Super League-esque display in front of over 8,000 fans to run out comfortable 36-0 winners - and complete an utterly memorable season.

The cherry on top of the already-iced cake was added by IMG’s Super League confirmation.

And if their performance against Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Boxing Day is anything to go by, Wakefield Trinity, and their fans, may be set for another magical year in 2025.