DARYL POWELL has hailed new Wakefield Trinity recruit Tyson Smoothy as “one of the best passing nines” he has seen throughout his rugby league career.
After two decades as a player, Powell hung up his boots in 2001 to become part of the Leeds Rhinos coaching staff.
From there, he went to rugby union side Leeds Tykes before returning to the 13-man code with Featherstone Rovers.
Almost six years later and Powell went to nearby rivals Castleford Tigers where he made it to two Challenge Cup Finals and one Super League Grand Final.
Now, after steering Wakefield back the top flight in 2024 and securing a play-off berth in 2025, the 60-year-old is being tasked with transforming Trinity into one of Super League’s man players.
To do so, Powell has brought in the likes of Brisbane Broncos hooker Tyson Smoothy and Manly Sea Eagles forward Jazz Tevaga.
And he couldn’t speak highly enough of them both.
“Tyson has played in an NRL Grand Final and has played almost every week for Brisbane off the bench,” Powell told League Express.
“We are always looking for potential and we feel Tyson has a huge potential to grow. He is still only 26 and so still pretty young.
“For me, he is one of the best passing nines I’ve seen in my time in the game. He’s got some qualities that will really add to us.
“Physically, he is also built well. He is well into the 90kgs and quite the athlete.”
Powell also described the signing of Tevaga as an experienced one.
“Jazz is a little bit different to Tyson. Jazz is a really high-energy impact player who’s got loads of speed about everything he does.
“He has good leadership. He has the capability to play nine but is primarily coming over as a 13 for us.”
So will Powell add anymore signings to his roster for 2026?
“We feel like we’ve done a job on our recruitment. The message to us and everyone in our environment is that we want to get better and grow.
“We are signing players who have a massive amount themselves now but also for the future.
“At the moment, I’m not 100 percent sure on new signings. There was potential for movement during the early part of the season as you saw with Caius Faatili.