Daryl Powell questions timing of IMG announcement as Wakefield Trinity promotion party put on hold

Trinity are bidding for the treble against Toulouse Olympique after adding the League Leaders' Shield to the 1895 Cup they won at Wembley in June.

However, there will be no promotion party at Belle Vue, with clubs forced to wait until next Wednesday to discover their scores following the introduction of a grading system.

Wakefield are expected to be among the 12 teams that make up Super League in 2025 but the immediate priority is beating Toulouse to round off a memorable season.

"I always thought you'd get to know a little bit earlier with IMG," said Powell, whose side are chasing the extra 0.25 points on offer this weekend. "You get to know later which is a bit bizarre.

"We can't do anything about that. We've just got to look after what happens on the field and the rest of it is what it is.

"For a player, a Grand Final is a Grand Final. That's enough. There are points available and all we can do is get hold of those.

"We've got a lot of players who won't be coming with us to Super League, which is hopefully where we'll end up. I just want to see them enjoy the night because the journey has been class this year.

"We want to finish it off in a great way. Promotion or no promotion, they're great occasions.

"It'll be a challenge, no question, but I've got full trust in the boys that they can go out and deliver what we want to achieve."

Powell has lost Josh Griffin from the team that beat York Knights in last week's semi-final due to injury but there is proven talent throughout his squad, including recent arrival Jake Trueman.

The Trinity boss is set to resist the temptation to throw his former Castleford Tigers half-back in for the biggest game of the season.

"I was pretty happy to go with the boys that have done the job all year," added Powell.

"I wanted to pay that respect to the players. Truey sees that as well. That's what I've said right from the start and I'm inclined to go with that.

"When you stand up as a coach and say something to a group of boys, you probably want to stick by it. I don't think it goes down too well if you don't. It's never been part of my style anyway."