Wakefield have plenty in reserve but opt out of league

Wildcats are not entering the new reserve competition – set up as an alternative to dual-registration – but a “select” side beat Dewsbury Rams reserves in a friendly last weekend and were in action again today at home to Hull’s second string.

“We have opted not to play in the reserve grade competition,” coach Brian Smith said. “We just don’t have the finance to carry another 10 or 15 players, but we are organising some games to give our boys some match fitness and development and also to give the better under-19s players a chance to develop at a higher level as well.”

Smith said Wildcats will also look to loan out players, probably after the busy Easter period.

Wakefield had partnerships with London Broncos and Featherstone Rovers last year. Chairman Michael Carter said: “We’ve not got anything lined up with dual-registration.

“We’ve had discussions with a couple of clubs, but nothing came of it. We will probably take a look at it next week, after [today’s] final reserve friendly and we could also look at arranging a few more reserve games as the season progresses.”

Meanwhile, Wildcats will attempt to get off the mark in Super League when they travel to Hull KR tomorrow.

After losses against Widnes and Castleford, Smith added: “We have got to find improvement.

“We have got to find a balance between boosting confidence and at the same time challenging the guys to find some extras. The decent thing we have had this year is we’ve tasted it a couple of times. The pre-season game against Leeds was a feeling of what we are capable of.

“We know we have got it in us to get to that level and then we need to keep finding it, because as the season goes on other teams will keep improving as well.”

Captain Danny Kirmond and Ashley Gibson have dropped out of the side for tomorrow’s game, with Chris Annakin, Tom Johnstone, Jon Molloy and Mickael Simon all vying for a call-up.