WAKEFIELD TRINITY coach Daryl Powell pointed to the “crazy” Super League fixture schedule as he looked ahead to two clashes with his old club Castleford Tigers in the space of three weeks.
The derby is back after a season’s absence, with meetings at the DIY Kitchens Stadium on Thursday – kicking off the game’s Easter programme in the process – then at Magic Weekend in Newcastle on Saturday, April 26.
That’s after Trinity took on St Helens for the second time this season on Friday in round seven of Super League, losing 26-14.
Powell’s side, elevated after a successful year in the Championship and now aiming to maintain momentum by pushing for the play-offs, will also have second meetings with Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos in May before facing Huddersfield Giants and Wigan Warriors for the first time in this term’s top flight.
“I do think the fixture list is kind of crazy,” said Powell, who coached Castleford between 2013 and 2021 and was appointed by Wakefield after ambitious Matt Ellis took the club over in the wake of their relegation in 2023.
“We haven’t played Huddersfield or Salford yet, then we play Cas twice and we will have played Saints twice. It’s madness how it has been put together, and I don’t think you can really get a sense of the table.
“Quite a lot of teams have played against Cas and Salford and we haven’t. I’m not saying there’s anything in that, just that you can’t really get a true perspective of the competition, so I’m not reading too much into the table at the moment.
“I don’t think it affects the end of the season too much, but I don’t think it’s a good look for the season as you’re rolling through it.
“But there’s nothing we can do about it. We just crack on and we take each week as it comes.”
Halfback Olly Russell has had surgery on the broken hand he sustained in the Challenge Cup quarter-final loss to Leigh and is set to be out for at least the next eight weeks.
Outside back Matty Russell broke ribs during that tie and faces a month on the sidelines, with Powell pointing out: “We’ve got decent depth in his position, so we’ll be good.”
Powell expects forward Josh Griffin to be in line to face Castleford following a hamstring niggle.
Wakefield have won just one of their last 20 Super League clashes with the Tigers, 32-6 away in 2022, although they beat them 32-8 at home in Luke Gale’s testimonial in pre-season.
