Daryl Powell salutes ‘exceptional’ display as Wakefield reach first Grand Final
The visitors ruthlessly capitalised on Adam Keighran’s second-half yellow card to score three tries in 10 minutes
Wakefield head coach Daryl Powell hailed an “exceptional” performance after his side obliterated hot favourites Wigan 33-6 to romp into their first ever Betfred Super League Grand Final.
The visitors ruthlessly capitalised on Adam Keighran’s second-half yellow card to score three tries in 10 minutes and move within touching distance of sealing an Old Trafford clash with Powell’s former club Warrington.
Powell said: “The performance from the boys was exceptional. We knew we had to play that well to beat Wigan, so to come here and do what we did is an awesome feeling.
“I thought it would be a tight game and it looked that way at half-time. But our second half performance was exceptional, but we won’t get too carried away with it. We obviously celebrated it today, but now we just have to focus on next week.”
Wakefield hit back from falling six points behind, but their momentum threatened to stall when Jazz Tevaga was sin binned for tripping Liam Marshall. Instead, the visitors survived unscathed and went on to pull away and seal victory.
It means Trinity are 80 minutes away from capping a remarkable revival following their relegation from the top flight in 2023 – and guarantees a new name will be on the domestic sport’s most coveted trophy next Saturday.
“I felt like relegation was good for us in some ways,” recalled Powell. “We brought in some good players and I think we’ve grown immeasurably over the last couple of years. We’re such a talented group and we just kept adding here and there to get better.
“I think it’s been a growth of belief throughout the year and it’s been there since maybe six weeks ago – a genuine belief that we could win the comp.
“But we haven’t won anything yet and that’s the important thing. We’ll keep our heads down and next week needs to be a great week for us, nice and relaxed and focused. If we do that we will be a challenge for everybody.”
Wigan head coach Matt Peet had no excuses after watching his side’s bid to move a step closer to a domestic treble dismantled by an inspired Trinity performance.
Peet said: “We were well beaten. There’s no shame in admitting we were second best.
“It was an outstanding performance from Wakefield, and all the threats we knew they had, they got every facet of their game right and we didn’t.
“All credit in the world to them and to Daryl. We were outplayed, out-coached and they beat us all ends up. It hurts, but you’ve got to take the highs and the lows and move forward.”
Peet refused to pin any blame on Keighran, whose second-half sin binning proved pivotal as Wakefield ran in three tries in 10 minutes to effectively seal their place in the Grand Final.
“Adam has had some unbelievable moments for us across the last few years,” added Peet. “You don’t get every night your own way and he couldn’t have tried any harder.
“Both teams were challenged and they dealt with it better than we did. Both when they went down (to 12 men) and when they were up, they made the number tell.”