St Helens v Wakefield Trinity: Willie Poching starts recruitment drive after confirming safety

Although Wakefield were virtually safe after beating Hull FC, Thursday’s win over Hull KR coupled with Toulouse Olympique’s defeat by Catalans Dragons confirmed the club’s safety.

Trinity can now plan for 2023 with confidence but the club have been left behind in the recruitment market due to the uncertainty created by the relegation battle.

Poching is optimistic Wakefield will catch up with their Super League rivals after nailing down their top-flight place.

“There’s a tinge of relief and a bit of finality,” he said.

“We finally can start the planning process for next season with some assurity.

“It’s late because of where we’ve been. I understand people have been a bit nervy to talk to us and commit.

“Hopefully now we’ve secured our position in the league for next season we can get some confidence and commit.

“You do your due diligence and keep taking phone calls but we’ve got nothing over the line yet.

“We’re actively looking around to get fresh people in to try lift the mantle where those guys (departing players) have left off.”

Long-serving forwards David Fifita and Tinirau Arona are both leaving the club, while James Batchelor, Tom Johnstone and Yusuf Aydin are also on their way out of Belle Vue and captain Jacob Miller is set to join Castleford Tigers.

After seeing his team leapfrog Warrington Wolves into 10th spot, Poching is desperate to finish the year on a high.

“Each and every one of them has been a great servant to our club,” he said ahead of tomorrow's trip to St Helens.

“Dave and T (Arona) have been through the highs and lows at this club and invested a lot, as have their families.

“They deserved to go out the way they did here (at Belle Vue) but we’ve got two more games in a short space of time.

“We’re still hungry to keep climbing. We’ve got ourselves in a better position now and have got to try to finish the season as strongly as we can.”