Official Wakefield & Hull, and others, Rugby League 2025 thread

[animallittle3]

" I thought it was a summer game " I hear you say ?

Well yes it is except when it isn't .

We have the annual traditional Boxing Day clash with the Leeds Rhinos to get things underway , every year we travel over to Headingley to compete for the Whetherby Whaler Challenge Trophy .

It's really a pre season friendly dressed up as something else in order to preserve a bit of Rugby League on Boxing Day from the time when we played in winter time , except we still play in winter time seen as the Challenge Cup starts in January and the Super League season begins in mid February .

Confused ? , so are we but you get accustomed to it in Rugby League .

Could be worse or better depending on the size of your pocket .

Wigan will play Warrington to start the season off in Round One of Super League in Las Vegas .

Yep that's right in Las Vegas .

Not sure what to do on Boxing Day morning , I'm ready to see a bit of Rugby League and take a good look at Trinity's 10 new signings but our first game in Round One on our return to Super League is against the Rhinos at Headingley on the 15th February .

The Boxing Day morning weather may well be the deciding factor .

[animallittle3]

Wetherby Wailer Festive Challenge ( pre season friendly )

Leeds Rhinos 18 - 16 Wakefield Trinity

It's quite a while since I visited Headingley and during that time the stadium has undertaken huge development with 3 new stands making it an extremely decent Rugby League stadium .

A boxing day crowd of over 10k were treated to a very competitive game of Rugby League with Trinity fans packing out the undeveloped West Terrace .

Leeds fielded a strong starting 13 whilst Trinity had 7 new signings in their ranks and for the first 30 minutes it showed with Trinity conceding two early tries , conceding way too many penalties , unable to complete our sets and plenty of errors .

For those not familiar with the game Rugby League is about combinations and timing and Trinity had none mainly due to the amount of new signings out on the field .

Second half we came out a different team and the Rhinos started to make the same errors we had first half , with five minutes to go Trinity led 16-12 but an unfortunate error allowed the Rhinos to score and the conversion was kicked .

A tad disappointing but overall I was pleased with our defensive work and there looks to be plenty to come from this team once we get our combinations and pivots working .

[animallittle3]

Luke Gale Testimonial , Pre Season Friendly .

Wakefield Trinity 32-8 Castleford Tigers .

Friendlies in Rugby League are a different kettle of fish to those you see in football , there is no playing within yourself or pulling out of contacts to preserve yourself in Rugby League .

You are either on a Rugby field full on or you aren't on there at all so it was very pleasing to see Trinity smash our local rivals last night in the manner we did .

There were some aspects to our play last night that promised a very good season back in Super League and the recruitment team have put together some very good talented lads who have the promise to improve even more alongside the Super League experience we've brought in to help them along .

Without getting too carried away I think we'll surprise a few this season and have a very good season .

[SBRed48]

I have an interest in Rugby League without considering myself a passionate fan but I wish the local lads well this coming season.

[animallittle3]

I have an interest in Rugby League without considering myself a passionate fan but I wish the local lads well this coming season.

Very kind of you SB , much appreciated .

[Barnsley Chop]

Really enjoyed the game last night Animal.

Wakefield played very well.

The ongoing development of the stadium is a joy to see.

Onwards and upwards on and off the field.

[animallittle3]

Really enjoyed the game last night Animal.

Wakefield played very well.

The ongoing development of the stadium is a joy to see.

Onwards and upwards on and off the field.

Not only that Chop look at the players who were missing on Friday night , TJ , Atoni , Griffin , Hall and Matty Russell .

Powell has got some real competition for places going on and he's got a difficult job keeping them all on board , nice problem to have though mind .

He's got to get Josh Rourke in that team too in my opinion , I know he's a full back but you can't leave Jowitt out but he's got to get him in somewhere , centre perhaps ? .

Rourke could be a real superstar in my opinion .

[Barnsley Chop]

Also Vagana, Cozza and Doyle absent.

Squad numbers wise we are probably 2-3 senior players short with super league experience in my opinion, so depending on amount of injuries we will pick up over the season, one or two of our promising Academy lads may get some valuable game time

Doncaster friendly next weekend then a David and Goliath Challenge Cup tie against newcomers Goole who won their first ever professional game v London at the weekend before the business season starts at Leeds.

[Acido]

So it's another so called Super league season ahead of us isn't it. 👍 🏉
We/Hull Fc have finally got rid of Adam Pearson from the hot seat, after 13 long years in charge.
Yeah he was part of the brilliant successful double Wembley cup wins, with Lee Radford.
But admittedly that was back in seasons '16 & '17, and to be honest the recent years have been appalling!.
So it's new owners now and a new Oz Coach in charge. I don't have much ambition for the season, but I do always look forward to a new season anyway, also as a neutral fan. 😉

[animallittle3]

Betfred Challenge Cup Round 3

Wakefield Trinity 82 - 0 Goole Vikings

It's virtually non existent in Rugby League for a League One team or an amateur club to beat a Super League outfit .

However these clubs and their players deserve the opportunity to test themselves against our games elite and long may it continue .

Everyone of the lower league and amateur club's are part of the Rugby League family and they all produce players who will eventually play Super League and it's hugely important that they continue to be part of the Challenge Cup even though shock results are virtually impossible .

The Goole lads this afternoon found the speed of facing Super League players tough but they never once dropped their heads and were still giving it everything they had in the 80th minute .

If there's going to be a shock result it may come in the Bradford Bulls v Castleford Tigers tie tomorrow .