Wakefield Trinity “never at our best” against Batley Bulldogs says Daryl Powell

The Bulldogs led 12-6 at the break as Wakefield’s “uncharacteristic” errors were punished by the visitors. And although it wasn’t a perfect second half display, Powell’s league leaders retained their unbeaten Championship status thanks to unanswered tries from Caleb Uele, Oliver Pratt, Liam Kay, Derrell Olpherts and Josh Griffin.

Powell said: “We were never at our best. We were talking in the changing room about how we have been after we have come out of Wembley - up and down performances. Today was very similar.

“We started great, we got 6-0 up and allowed Batley into the game. There were a few different reasons why that happened. We made a lot of errors which was uncharacteristic. We were 53 per cent completions at half-time which is unlike us and put us under pressure.

“Batley have got some pretty big players who caused us a bit of trouble. It took a lot of energy out of us. They made it really difficult for us (earlier in the season) and they have done it again. We made it pretty tough on ourselves but they took advantage of that. They are well coached, they work hard, they've got some big boys who cause a lot of trouble.

“They were really good and put us under some pressure. Luckily we were good enough to come out of the other side.”

He added: “At half-time we had a bit of a chat about our standards as much as anything. While we were better in the second half we were never really at our best. At half time I thought we had played really poorly, we made a lot of errors. It was about finding our intent and our game.

“It was an unbelievable breakaway try from Oli Pratt who I thought was probably our best player today and that sort of turned the game a little bit. We started to get after their middle unit, which I don’t think we did well in the first half, and we got a foothold in the game, which was a little bit too much for Batley.”

Powell is having to deal with a few injury issues within the Wakefield squad as Liam Hood (calf) pulled out in the pre-match warm-up, joining Mason Lino, Thomas Doyle, Renouf Atoni and Josh Bowden on the sidelines.

Powell said: “We lost Liam Hood in the warm up today. Harvey Smith had been ill. He rang me this morning and wasn’t going to play today. He ends up playing the vast majority of the game. It put us under real pressure.

“We have got a lot of injuries. We are creaking. Doyle, Renouf Atoni, Josh Bowden, all our starting front three were missing. You could see that a little bit. Ky (Rodwell) coming back in and playing his first game after a few weeks out and (Luke) Bainy having his first start, there were a few changes in there. It’s next man in when this kind of situation happens.

“It’s not ideal and comes ahead of our toughest fixture run for a fair while. We have just got to crack on. Pivotal positions are causing us a lot of trouble.”

That run of fixtures sees Wakefield take on Bradford Bulls and Toulouse away from home before ending July by entertaining local rivals Featherstone Rovers.

And Powell knows his side needs to be better than they were against Batley.

He said: “So it’s a little bit disappointing, but we’ve won another game. It’s all about winning but, ultimately, I feel like we are going to have to step up performance-wise. I am sure the boys will.

“For the next three games there are real challenges. We have got some games where they are going to test us, three of the best teams in the comp. Bradford next week away, we know that is going to be a tough game, we have already been there, we know what that’s about, then Toulouse away and Featherstone at home.

“Difficult games coming up. We are not going to be playing like that and winning, that’s for sure.”