Friday Interview - John Kear: Setting his goals as Trinity aim to bounce back

With three rounds of the season played, the Wildcats were flying, having defeated Harlequins, Catalans Dragons and, most famously, defending champions Leeds Rhinos.

But Wakefield's stay in pole position was brought to an unceremonious end by a sequence of events that brought Kear and his team back down to earth with a bump.

First, Trinity were hit by a bombshell which would reverberate not just across the city and the sport but around the world; a story that put Wakefield on the map for the wrong reasons.

The chants of 'We are top of the league' began to sound hollow when it emerged that star signing Terry Newton had become the first player in world sport to test positive for human growth hormone. Newton, 31, the former Bradford and Great Britain hooker, was duly handed a two-year ban and sacked by the Belle Vue club, whose fortunes went into freefall.

A 22-16 defeat at St Helens was followed by a humiliating 52-0 loss to Huddersfield Giants and to compound their woes, Wakefield have seen the likes of Ben Jeffries join an already lengthy injury list to leave their coach with more fires to tackle.

However, Wildcats fans were given massive cause for optimism this week as Kear finally looked to have got his clutches on a player he had pursued for almost two years with the loan signing of Paul Cooke, a move made possible by the salary cap ramifications of Newton's departure.

That Cooke's current club, Hull Kingston Rovers, play host to Wakefield tonight, just adds to the intrigue.

Kear dismisses theories that Newton's departure is behind Wakefield's stumble.

"The players have put the issue to one side, there's nothing we can do," he said. "Obviously, we are a player down, it was a player misdemeanour that caused that so we have no sympathy whatsoever with the individual.

"You can feel sorry for his family, but the actions were wrong. We accept that and we just have to get on with the people that we have got here.

"There is obviously some money available, we are trying to use that money in a sensible way to strengthen the squad. But we will wait to make sure the right player is available, at the right time and the right price. We will do it on our terms, with the budget we have set."

Kear was Cooke's coach at Hull and was quick to open talks with Hull KR when the stand-off fell out of favour with coach Justin Morgan.

"I am a long-time admirer of Paul Cooke and remain so," said Kear, although it seems unlikely a deal will be completed before tonight's match.

Victory at Craven Park would see Wakefield return eight points from their first six games, hardly a calamitous opening.

"They are all big games," said Kear. "After the first six rounds, we will have played Harlequins away, who we have never beaten down in London for the last three years, we will have played Catalans, who met us in the play-offs, and will have faced teams who made up the top four in Super League last season.

"So it has been a pretty tough start for us, these first six games. Hull KR finished fourth last season and we know it's going to be a very tough game."

Kear admitted: "At the start of the season, we would have settled for eight points from the first six matches, the way the fixtures have been.

"We have been reasonably satisfied with four of the performances, but we were very dissatisfied with the last one. We need to perform, and if we can do that, we have a chance of winning.

"Huddersfield were a lot better than us. That's the top and bottom of it. In every aspect of a rugby league performance, Huddersfield were better than us and you have to accept that. What we have to look at is why that happened, and that's what we have attempted to do this week. It's been a very intense week.

"Injury-wise we have a fair few missing from the squad which started the season."

Success for Kear and Wakefield would be improving on their play-off feat of last season when they crashed out against Catalans Dragons 25-16 at Belle Vue, or reaching the final of the Challenge Cup. It would mean taking the next step up the ladder for a club who are now established in the top flight.

"This season we want to kick on," said the 55-year-old former Sheffield and Hull coach. "We survived year one, established ourselves in mid-table in years two to four, but what we need to do now is kick on.

"Not only do we need to reach the play-offs, but make an impression in them. And obviously, two years ago we got to the Challenge Cup semi-final so we would like to better that.

"If we can achieve one of those goals, I think this season will be looked upon as a success."

Standing in their way tonight is a Rovers team and Morgan.

Kear said: "Justin Morgan is doing a great job.

"Hull KR have established themselves as a Super League club, they have got great crowds, a great fan base that is very passionate and they also have a pretty decent squad.

"Any forward pack that has the likes of Mick Vella, Joel Clinton, Clint Newton and Ben Galea is going to challenge you.

"Obviously, they have a real clever half-back in Michael Dobson, some strike power out wide in Jake Webster and that's without mentioning two current England internationals in Peter Fox and Shaun Briscoe.

"We have a challenge but we are looking forward to it after playing so poorly last week."

KEAR FACTFILE

Born: November 25, 1954, Castleford.

Took over as Sheffield Eagles coach in 1997 and 12 months later won the Challenge Cup, beating Wigan at Wembley.

Coach of the England team in the 2000 World Cup tournament, leading them to the semi-finals.

Repeated his Challenge Cup success by leading Hull FC to victory over Leeds in 2005.

In 2009, Kear led Wakefield to fifth position, their highest Super League finish.