Daryl Powell welcomes ugly side of Wakefield Trinity's Super League title charge

Wakefield Trinity are beginning to show they are mastering it after another gritty win on the road.

Buoyed by a statement victory in Hull KR's backyard, Daryl Powell's team arrived at Odsal as clear favourites.

Instead, they were forced to dig deep against a resolute Bradford Bulls outfit, banking a valuable win despite falling short of their usual standards.

Twelve months ago, Wakefield too often found themselves on the wrong side of games like this. Seven of their defeats came by six points or fewer. This season, they are the ones finding a way.

"We had to win a game that we were under pressure in," said Powell after the 26-12 success. "Maybe we lose that game last year.

"We've won another tight game and come out the other side. That's pleasing from a coaching perspective.

"You want to see your team dig their way out of difficult situations. We were good enough to win the game but I wouldn't like to see us play that way too often. I don't think that's going to be good enough.

"But every team has those games where you don't play at your best and just have to win.

"We've got a few days off now so the boys have a bit of time. I'm off to Formula 1 in Belgium and am not reviewing that game. I'm moving on."

Tom Johnstone's try inside the opening 80 seconds suggested Wakefield could be in for a straightforward evening but Bradford are made of sterner stuff.

The depleted Bulls, who lost Loghan Lewis in the warm-up to add to their injury issues, stayed with their high-flying visitors and took the game deep, only for Josh Rourke and Harvey Smith to end their hopes late on.

"It was a really tough game," acknowledged Powell.

"There are different reasons for that. We had to battle our way through loads of different stuff – the amount of time we were on our tryline in the second half in particular. The courage and determination to keep Bradford out was excellent.

"I don't think we were ever really at our best but Bradford were one of the reasons for that. And the pitch is 15 metres narrower and tough to play on.

"Bradford were excellent. To do what they did against our pack after a withdrawal in the middle was outstanding."

An eighth win in nine games lifted Wakefield to second in Super League – temporarily at least – and adds another layer of belief as the business end of the season comes into view.

Powell is convinced the best is still to come for his ever-improving side.

"We lost our first game at home to Toulouse and everybody was saying that we had no chance, we were done and last year was a one-off," he said.

"We now have to win games against big rivals to be seen as genuine contenders. There's still a storyline for us there.

"But we're in a great place. You've got to enjoy it when you're winning games and in a good place.

"Do we think we're the finished article? I think we've got a way to go but we're working hard on it. We're pretty consistent at the moment and hard to beat.

"There's loads of improvement in us so we'll just keep going."

Bradford were left to count the cost of another gutsy performance.

As well as losing Lewis before kick-off, Kurt Haggerty also has concerns over Andy Ackers, Dan Russell and Waqa Blake as attention turns to a derby at Leeds Rhinos.

The lengthy casualty list did little to ease Haggerty's disappointment.

"We put a big theme around the week of beating a team in the top six," said the Bradford boss, who confirmed Eribe Doro's season is over. "I'm so devastated we've not won the game."