Wakefield Trinity owner Matt Ellis on 'exciting signings', Renouf Atoni and quota change

However, with experienced figures such as Liam Hood and Josh Griffin set to move on – and with the potential for additional overseas signings under revised rules – Ellis now expects five new recruits to join Daryl Powell's squad for next season.

"With the quota decision coming up, it's been a quieter year across the board," said Ellis.

"We've got three deals done up to now but have only announced Tyson so far. The other two are not due to be announced yet but they are exciting signings.

"A lot of deals were done early but the quota change has slowed the market down a little bit.

"We're probably going to do a couple more so I'd expect there to be five new signings for next season. We're replacing Hoody, Griffin and probably two or three more."

As it stands, Super League clubs are permitted a maximum of seven overseas players in their squad.

However, that could change following a key meeting scheduled for July 15.

"The quota spots are about to be increased, we believe," added Ellis.

"The announcement about that will probably be after the next council meeting. There's talk of eight, nine or 10.

"I'm all for protecting the academies and producing our own top players – but we need to be wary of young talented players earning too much, too soon. They're automatically earning big money because there's a lack of them.

"We've bid for players who we thought were £60,000-£70,000 players that have topped out at £140,000. That's an issue for the game.

"We're anticipating it to go up. Steve (Mills, recruitment manager) has got a really good rapport with people in Australia. He's awaiting that and is doing work to prepare for it."

Renouf Atoni currently occupies a quota place at Belle Vue but was recently linked with an eye-catching move to neighbours Castleford Tigers by All Out Rugby League.

The New Zealand-born prop, who joined Trinity ahead of the 2023 season, has been restricted to eight appearances this year and is set to be sidelined until August with a calf problem.

While he stopped short of confirming Atoni's move to Wheldon Road, Ellis did suggest the two parties were too far apart in their expectations.

"I don't 100 per cent know if Renouf has signed at Cas," he said.

"We have a value on that player and it's a salary cap sport. Ren is an absolutely fantastic bloke and a good player but we have a value on him because injuries have stopped him getting on the field every week. We've got a lot of that at the minute but it's probably happened with Ren in each season.

"I absolutely think the world of Ren but you have to have a value of how much you think each player is worth. If his agent doesn't believe that is the right number and he doesn't accept it, we feel there's a market that we can utilise to get a replacement after signing Caius Faatili, Kai Rodwell and Isaiah Vagana (from the lower grades in Australia)."

Wakefield did not spend their full salary cap this year, initially leaving room to add to Powell’s squad during the season.

However, Trinity have instead invested that money in new contracts to reward the form of players such as Faatili and Jay Pitts.

"Some of that has been eaten up by new deals," said Ellis.

"Faatili came over on a low wage and a short-term contract until the end of this year but is now on more money. The actual cap money left now is pretty minimal after doing deals to keep players.

"We've had a big injury crisis but the players available aren't better than what we've already got.

"It's always smart to have a bit of cap space to upgrade players."