Wakefield told to be smarter, by boss Smith

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats head coach Brian Smith admitted his side have to get 'smart fast' if they are to end their winless run in Super League.
Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.
Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.

They were eviscerated 40-6 at Castleford Tigers yesterday, their second successive defeat of the new season, and have not won in the league for six games dating back to the first day of last July.

Australian Smith has recruited heavily in the off-season and said: “I knew it’d take some time to get this crew going.

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“They’re trying hard – I felt that today – but you can’t play hard and not smart.

Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.
Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.

“We’ve got to be smarter very quickly.

“We had a seven penalty string in a row against us in the first half which just changed the game dramatically but if the ref didn’t shoot us we shot ourselves in the foot.

“We handed the ball over three times on the last play today as well.

“Two of them were within inches of their line and we just needed to find our number seven with the pass.”

Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.
Wakefield's Bill Tupou is held by the Castleford tacklers.
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Wakefield started well enough with Stuart Howarth opening the scoring in the sixth minute but then it was one-way traffic.

“The start was a positive but we just couldn’t sustain ourselves long enough,” added Smith. “Some of it was down to Cas’ abilities and in the second half they had nine consecutive sets of completions.

“We were good in patches – some of our defence was hard-hitting and we kept them in their own quarter for three or four plays.

“But then it’d end with a penalty or we’d get the ball back but not mount enough pressure to get a repeat set.”

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Smith was disappointed with referee James Child who awarded 12 penalties to Castleford against their six.

“I think three of our penalties were on the first tackle so it was like ‘Thanks - I’d rather not!’” he said, Trinity heading to Hull KR on Sunday.