Willie Poching backs Wakefield Trinity to arrest slump and pull away from Super League danger

Since losing to Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals, Trinity have lost six league games in a row to leave the club in a precarious position.

Poching’s men are only two points above bottom team Toulouse Olympique at the halfway stage of the season, raising the prospect of a nervy relegation scrap.

But Poching saw enough from Wakefield in Friday’s 24-6 defeat at Leeds Rhinos to suggest they can turn the situation around.

“There were some signs,” he said.

“We need a good 17-man effort and an 80-minute effort in defence to not give ourselves as much to do.

“I went through it as a player so I understand what they’re going through. They’re hungry, they’re desperate and want to win.

“I saw that will and desire defensively. That’s a massive part of that.

“If we can hold on to some of that, we can fix up the errors and the nervousness if it is that, and we’ll get ourselves back on track.”

Poching pointed to Trinity’s run of four straight wins that preceded the seven-game losing streak.

In that period, Wakefield claimed back-to-back victories at Warrington Wolves to highlight the potential of the squad.

Trinity now have two weeks to prepare for their next game against Hull FC, the first of three home fixtures in the space of a month.

Poching believes Wakefield are only one win away from going on another run.

“It’s a little bit like earlier in the season when we hadn’t won a game and got one against Toulouse which was a nervous one and then we kicked on for a little bit after that,” said Poching.

“They got a win against us last week and took Huddersfield all the way.

“If we can claw one, if we can grab one and get one in the next couple of games, that’ll give us that confidence and belief again.

“They’ve done it before. We can show them and they know they have it in them. It’s about practice and training and training and training.”