Wildcats draw strength from latest setback

THESE are tough times for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, but coach James Webster believes they will emerge stronger in the long-run.
Rob Burrow is tackled by Ali Lauitiiti.Rob Burrow is tackled by Ali Lauitiiti.
Rob Burrow is tackled by Ali Lauitiiti.

Wakefield suffered a seventh successive defeat when they went down 48-22 at Super League leaders Leeds Rhinos yesterday.

With Hull pulling off a shock win away to second-placed St Helens, Webster’s team are now two points adrift at the foot of the table.

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Despite that, the coach felt his side were “ultra-competitive” and he believes young players are gaining valuable experience during their injury crisis.

“I have got some beat-up blokes in that changing room,” said Webster.

“But, it was a good experience for us again; blokes like Dan Smith, only 21-22, playing front-row, got some more valuable time.

“That is important for us. While we are not looking over-competitive on the scoreboard at the moment, as a club we are gaining some really valuable experience for some people.”

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Wakefield twice levelled the scores in the first half and Webster added: “I thought we had a real good go.

“We improved from Thursday night and if we’d been able to handle Leeds one-on-one in certain situations we’d have right in the game.

“We had five or six tries scored against us, from range, because of a one-on-one 
miss.

“We tried really hard and I thought we were ultra-competitive for long periods.”

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Leeds are now four points clear at the top of the table, following second-placed Saints’ loss yesterday, but coach Brian McDermott said they are not getting carried away.

“There’s a fair way to go and a fair few hurdles we’ve got to overcome,” said McDermott.

“It is a good position to be in for now, but we aren’t getting really really excited.

“We are mindful there’s a fair few challenging teams out there that we’re going to meet in the coming weeks and we’ve got to stay focused on what we do, rather than looking at the league.”