Wakefield Trinity Wildcats vs Leeds Rhinos Preview

 To borrow a term from boxing, ‘someone’s 0 has got to go. Unfortunately for the teams involved this 0 is in the win column of the 2022 Betfred super league table. Leeds Rhinos are back on the road and will travel to the Be Well Support stadium to take on fellow basement dwellers Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. The Rhinos go into the game off the back of a 10-4 defeat to Catalan Dragons on Thursday night.

Leeds and Wakefield were involved in a trio of thrilling games in the 2021 season. The Rhinos opened the season with a 28-22 win over Trinity which saw the two teams cross for nine tries in the game before following this up with a round 6 15-13 golden point win. Rhyse Martin slotted over the winning goal after Jay Pitts illegally stripped the ball after the tackle was complete. Wakefield finally got their revenge beating Leeds 20-13 in a game that hung in the balance until Joe Arundel crashed over for a game sealing try.

What stood out from rewatching the highlights of the three games is that momentum swung back and forth throughout the game and neither team was able to maintain a lead for a sustained period of time. The games were also punctuated by moments of brilliance from the wingers on both sides. Tom Johnstone in particular shone in a losing effort in game one scoring two near identical 80 metre tries that left his opposition winger in the dust. 

Wakefield fans like Leeds fans are yet to see their team triumph in the 2022 season. Defeats to Hull FC, Catalan and St Helens leave the Wildcats just above Leeds in the table on points difference. In their opening two fixtures of the season they lost by just four and two points respectively. Although the Hull FC game was a closely fought contest, the scoreline of their second defeat against Catalan flatters the Wildcats as they were outplayed by the French outfit for 70 minutes before Johnstone and then Tom Lineham crossed for consolation tries off the back of Catalan mistakes. A much wider margin of defeat, 20-4, against St Helens may have been Wakefield's best performance of the season so far. Despite the margin of victory Wakefield dominated the reigning champions for periods of the game and the St Helens players and staff were left impressed by the style of play Wakefield brough to the Totally Wicked stadium.

Wakefield, like most teams in the competition, are already having to deal with a number of absences due to injury and suspension. Star centres Bill Tupou are missing from Willie Pochings 21 man squad as well as off season signing Tom Lineham. The team will be boosted though by the return of stand off Mason Lino who returns to the squad for his first appearance of the 2022 season. Where Wakefield are lacking in the backs they more than make up for it in the forward pack. The most notorious of these is cult figure David Fifitia but other players like Kelepi Tanginoa and Matty Ashurst provide grunt to a well oiled unit.

As ever when a team plays against Wakefield, the player to watch out for is the flying winger Tom Johnstone. The epitome of a human highlight reel due to his ridiculous finishing ability, you can’t help but feel that Johnstone is an injury free year away from establishing himself as one of the top 3 wingers in the competition and a place in Shaun Wane’s squad for the 2022 world cup. He has already crossed for four tries in the current season and has been a constant thorn in the side for Leeds in previous years. It would be a surprise to noone if we  see him streaking down the wing to cross for a long range try originating from his own 20m line.

Leeds Rhinos coach Richard Agar can look forward to welcoming back key members of his first team back to his squad for the fixture. David Fusitu’a returns to the squad after recovering from a head injury in round one while second rower Rhyse Martin will slot back into his second row berth after the injury to Alex Mellor. The biggest selection conundrum for Agar comes in who will miss out in the centres now Harry Newman is available for selection. Both Tom Briscoe and Liam Sutcliffe have performed well in the first three rounds of the seasons and neither deserve to lose their spot. Briscoe provides a higher level of power and athleticism however Sutcliffe has a greater rugby IQ that is developed by playing as a halifax and loose forward in previous seasons. I would personally like to see Tom Briscoe start as I believe he will cause more issues for his opposite man and is more effective at gaining quick play the balls when carrying from his own half.  

It's a cliche thrown around almost every week by coaches but the game on Thursday night will be won and lost in the battle of the forwards. Whichever team can gain the upperhand in the middle of the park will lay the platform for their back line to launch attacks on the opposition line. Wakefield, primarily through Tom Johnstone, also have the ability to strike from anywhere on the park and it will therefore be important for Leeds to minimise handling errors and offloads to reduce the opportunity for Wakefield to be attacking a broken defensive line. This is a weakness that was exposed in the Rhinos loss to Wigan in round 2. On paper Leeds undoubtedly have a stronger squad however Wakefield have arguably produced the more impressive performances over the opening three rounds of the season. If Leeds can win the battle of the forward pack they have the strike power in their back line which will be boosted by the return of David Fusitu'a and Harry Newman who will both want to hit the ground running after a disrupted start of the season.

 

Ever the optimist I believe that Leeds fans can look forward to finally seeing the side in blue and amber win their first game of the season. My prediction is that after a tight first half Leeds will have too much quality for Wakefield and run out 36-16 winners, scoring a number of tries in the last twenty minutes of the game.

 

Thank you for reading and remember all Leeds aren't we.