After reinvigorating his career with a spell in France at Catalans Dragons, Tom Johnstone is back at Wakefield as a rejuvenated Trinity side aim to shake up Super League.
THEY say ‘never go back’, but for Tom Johnstone there were a bucketload of reasons to do just that – despite leaving Wakefield “a bit fed up” just two years earlier.
Johnstone was a hero at Trinity, one of their best academy products in many a year who scored 87 tries in 116 appearances across eight seasons. But by 2022, a change was needed.
His run of injuries was long and brutal. ACL ruptures to his right knee, in 2017 and 2019, cost him almost two years of his career. Another knee surgery and numerous head knocks laid him low in 2021. Then a groin injury sidelined him for the final four months of the 2022 season.
All the while, Wakefield were slipping down Super League’s pecking order. Following fifth-place finishes in 2017 and 2018, they came ninth, tenth, tenth and tenth – the definition of also-rans.
So Johnstone went for broke, leaving his only club for Catalans, taking his family along to live in the south of France, and hoping a significant change of scene would bring a significant change in fortunes.
It worked a treat. In his first year as a Dragon, Johnstone scored 28 tries in 29 games, the best tally of his career and one short of being Super League’s top scorer. He subsequently received an England recall, five years after his previous sole cap, playing all three games in the Tonga series.
Why, then, did he make the decision soon after to return to Wakefield?
“Off the back of a pretty successful 2023, we were getting into discussions about extending (his two-year contract) at Catalans and what we wanted to do,” he explains.
“My wife fell pregnant and said that she wanted to come home for kid number two. She was at that point where she wanted to be back around her family.
“I started speaking to my agent and a couple of clubs over here and I was contacted by Wakefield who said they wanted to meet me, to discuss the possibility but also lay out their plans and their goals for the future.
“After speaking to them that was really exciting. I thought ‘if they deliver the things they say they’re going to, it would be a great place to be’.”
Before looking to Wakefield’s future, it’s worth looking back with Johnstone. Not on the horror injuries, which have been covered in great detail over the years, but how he has turned things around in recent times, not just to stay on the pitch but to be fitter, faster and stronger than ever.
“Coming off the back of the injury in 2022, I’d already looked at changing my diet, but then I looked at other ways of looking after myself, like the supplementation I was taking,” says the winger.
“I’m looking after myself off the pitch in terms of recovery, and just treating rugby a lot more seriously. I used to just turn up every day and I didn’t really class it as a job.
“Now every day off has turned into ‘right, this morning is for recovery, I’ve got to make sure my body’s feeling right before I do anything’. I’ve learned a lot more about myself over the ten years in Super League. I know when I’m feeling good and when I’m not.”
Batting away the booze is one of the most dramatic changes: “I’ve worked out drinking doesn’t really go well with my body. I stopped for a good 18 months.
“I haven’t stopped forever and I’ll have a drink every now and then but it’s got to be the right time for it. I’ve got to make sure I’m not going to be playing rugby or training around it.
“When I came through, there was a bit of a drinking mentality. It was still in that era with lads who were there from the older days.
“It came through with me but I realised I didn’t enjoy drinking as much as I thought I did. I didn’t miss it at all and my body felt better for it. My body thanked me for it so it was a good decision.
“I know some of the best players I’ve ever played with, they love a drink. It’s different for everyone but I’ve finally found what works for me.”
A new approach to physical conditioning paid dividends in France but so did the new culture as Johnstone fully embraced the fresh possibilities that come with a big switch.
He says: “I had this fire in me. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited than getting up and moving to another country. It got me enjoying rugby again.
“I was at a point where I was a bit fed up with it, off the back of a lot of injuries. Just being in the same place for so long, it got a bit tough, especially when it wasn’t going as well as I wanted it to.
“The rugby side of it, the excitement of moving, it was something new, learning a different language. I had two great years.
“For my career, it couldn’t have gone better. 2023 was a special year, probably the best of my life on and off the field. I absolutely loved it.”
While coming back to West Yorkshire can’t be compared to a first move abroad, there has also been the excitement of the new ahead of this season. He may be returning to the same club he left, but he’s also returning to a very different club.
In the past two years, Wakefield have been relegated from Super League, taken over by local businessman Matt Ellis, completed a new main stand, improved other facilities, and won three trophies while in the Championship.
Long-needed investments are being made, fans are back supporting the club in greater numbers, and the general air of positivity is a huge contrast to when Johnstone left.
“I followed them heavily while I was away, as it’s still a club I admire and love,” he says.
“Coming back, the first thing to notice is there’s a new stadium! The facilities are great. Just the mindset and the ambition of the club has changed.
“Matt has come in hungry to see the club succeed again like it used to do, and he’ll do whatever he can to make that happen.
“Daryl (Powell, head coach) has brought an elite level. He has his standards and no one can drop below that. Every day you’ve got to be at your best and bring your best to training.
“It’s working. You’re seeing players develop and the club looks like it’s in a good place.”
Johnstone knows all too well how Trinity were scrapping to stay in Super League each year, and now wants a very different story in this new chapter in the club’s history.
“We spent so many years surviving, and we did so well to survive with what we had and what we could do,” he adds.
“Matt once described it to me as a sleeping giant. It’s got all the history in the world and achieved so much back in the day. He’s come in and reinvigorated everything and got everyone excited and looking to try and do something special.
“We’re excited and we want to see where we’re at, like everyone else. We want to compete.
“We are looked at as underdogs but we don’t really see it that way. We’re ready to come in and shake things up a little bit.
“I won’t say a position we want to finish in, but we know we’re not going to finish at the bottom and we’re pretty confident in saying that. We’re going to take it to teams and see where we can get to.”
A big recruitment drive has seen a dozen signings made, ranging from England stars in Johnstone and fellow former Dragon Mike McMeeken to top young talent who will complement many of the stars of Wakefield’s dominant 2024 campaign.
Johnstone’s contention that they won’t be found at the bottom of the table seems a reasonable one. Betfred had them last in their odds to win the title ahead of the season, at 100/1, and while such success is indeed unlikely, the squad certainly looks stronger on paper than sides like Castleford, Huddersfield and Hull FC.
Indeed, with the momentum that’s already behind them and some good luck along the way, a play-off push is far from out of the question.
No one deserves that luck more than Johnstone, who wants to prove that going back was the perfect move forward.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 506 (March 2025).
