WAKEFIELD TRINITY went down 32-0 at home to the Leigh Leopards this afternoon in what proved to be another dismal afternoon for Mark Applegarth’s side.
Though they looked dangerous in the opening quarter, once Gareth O’Brien streaked over, the writing was on the wall.
And it’s fair to say that Applegarth was disappointed and dejected following the loss – Trinity’s ninth successive defeat in Super League 2023 and the fifth time being nilled which is a record in the top-flight.
“That second-half especially was a low point, our first half barring those two tries we were looking ok and looking really good.
“Then we’ve done the complete opposite of what we said we would do at half-time. Credit to Leigh on that, they’ve seen the vulnerability and put their foot on the throttle and exploited it.
“There was some individual quality that wasn’t up to the standard this week especially in the second-half, and some weren’t acceptable. I can’t keep on saying the same week after week.
“The reality is, we’ve got to fix it up, its just unacceptable as we saw in that second-half.
“There’s no hiding away from it, I’m saying at the pivots you’ve got to go into the teeth of the line, it’s ok playing lateral but you’ve got to preserve that space, make the decision and play straight and fix the defenders up. They are the basics of the game.
“There are one or two of us not doing it in them areas. There are a few catching the ball static, you aren’t going to do anything doing that.
“It’s ok doing it in training but we need to learn how to do it on matchday and that’s got to come down to application in the end.”
Applegarth also took responsibility for the application put on the field.
“I’m head coach so it’s my responsibility, it’s me I will say I’m responsible for, the buck stops with me.
“I’m p*ssed off when I see that because we are doing one thing in training and doing another thing in a game and that rattles you as a coach.
“I feel I’ve led a team that hasn’t executed our training plan, some have just hit not the level that is required at this standard.”
The Wakefield boss did highlight some players he needs to build his side around.
“There are some players that are giving it everything they’ve got, look at Jai Whitbread and the effort Lee Kershaw put in to get edwin Ipape down.
“Sam Hewitt had a cracking game and they are the lads I need to build this team around. They are the sort of people I envisage Wakefield to be about.
“I don’t think there is enough quality and efforts building that foundation around.”
