Daryl Powell: Wakefield Trinity building towards historic moment

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Well over half a century has passed since Don Fox fell to his knees and pounded the Wembley turf in frustration after missing the simplest of conversion attempts to win the Challenge Cup final for Wakefield Trinity.

Grainy online footage serves as a permanent reminder of the infamous 1968 ‘Watersplash Final’, one of rugby league’s most enduring moments and one most Trinity fans – including Fox’s brother Neil, himself part of the club’s golden era and still a regular visitor to the newly-anointed DIY Kitchens Stadium – would rather forget.

Barring a return to Wembley in 1979, where they lost to Widnes, Trinity have not come close to emulating their halcyon days of the late 1960s. They survived administration in 2011 and, after years of floundering, finally plunged from Super League in 2023 after losing their first 15 consecutive games of a calamitous season.

The advent of the sport’s IMG era implied there would be no easy route back. Instead, it served as a catalyst for a dramatic revival which continues on Saturday when Trinity – fresh off the back of a best-ever fourth place finish in the regular Super League season – head to Wigan with a place in the Grand Final at stake.

The transformation has been realised by a near-£10 million investment by local kitchens magnate and boyhood fan Matt Ellis. Undaunted, Ellis took control of the club as it slid from the top-flight, enticed veteran head coach Daryl Powell, and saw them roar back up at the first attempt.

“When I first came, Matt said, ‘I’d like you turn black and white into colour’,” said Powell, who, at the age of 61, now finds himself with the chance to cap his own sparkling Super League coaching CV with the unlikeliest of rugby league success stories.

“Everybody here talks about the 1960s. That was a long time ago, but the history of the club is massively important. For the players, it’s all about building a historical moment for themselves, and I think we’re building towards that moment.”

Ellis has already improved the former Belle Vue’s notoriously ramshackle vista with the installation of a gleaming 2,500 capacity East Stand. More big plans are incoming, as is NRL superstar Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who has committed to join the club for the 2027 season.

For long-serving Trinity players like winger Tom Johnstone, the speed of the change has been especially remarkable. Little wonder they will head across the M62 on Saturday convinced they can pull off what would be one of the sport’s most momentous upsets.

“We spent so many years scrapping at the bottom, and then we had a couple of good years before going back to what you’d call the Wakefield of old,” said Johnstone, who made his debut for the club in 2015 and has gone on to make almost 150 appearances, sandwiching a short spell at Catalans Dragons.

“But those days are gone now. The club is in an absolutely outstanding place. The club is full of history and legends, and there’s been a long period without success. The younger generation probably won’t remember who those players are. But Daryl touched on it the other day – you could be legends of this club if you achieve something special this year. And that means everything for me.”

Wakefield reached their first play-off semi-final with a coolly impressive win over Leigh last Friday night. As usual, Fox was in the stands, sitting amongst a new generation of Trinity fans cheering for the likes of 24-year-old Caius Faatili, a prop whose rumbustious style and mullet hairstyle has made him a cult hero of the club’s resurgence.

Faatili, who joined the club shortly before last season’s Super League campaign, admitted: “I came over quite late (in the close season) and I didn’t expect too much. I’d heard the horror stories from earlier on, and to see where the club is now is incredible.

“I don’t know about being a cult hero. I’m just here to play football and help to reinstall the pride back into the club and the city. People talk about us having no pressure but there is individual pressure. We’re here now and we want to get it done.”