IT may only be round four, but Wakefield Trinity’s clash with Hull FC feels like a significant one.
The two teams were closely matched last season – Wakefield three points ahead in the race for the last play-off spot, but both could be pleased with their growth.
But both have lost two of their opening three games this campaign, with Wakefield turned over by Toulouse Olympique and Warrington Wolves, while Hull FC suffered defeats to Wigan Warriors and York Knights.
Some new law interpretations and the injection of hungry promoted clubs have given Super League a very new dynamic so far, and it feels like both Wakefield and Hull have been caught a little off the pace.
But as it is just three rounds in, unsurprisingly neither coach is expressing great panic.
“It’s a long season, I don’t think you can get too carried away at this stage of the year,” said Trinity boss Powell.
“Everyone is trying to find their feet, and throw in new rules and interpretations and you end up with a bunch of teams trying to find their way in.
“We’re just trying to find our groove. We had players miss chunks of pre-season. Three rounds in, I think that’s gone and it’s about time we start our season and get our performance levels right.
“In the first three rounds they’ve not been acceptable. Hopefully that changes now and we start playing the way we want to play.”
Wakefield will have Mason Lino back but must cope without Tyson Smoothy due to a head injury.
Hull have faced even more early-season disruption, with Harvey Barron and Jed Cartwright now added to an injury list already featuring Herman Ese’ese, Will Pryce and Joe Batchelor.
As such, while a good performance on Thursday is the aim, coach John Cartwright knows it might not be pretty.
“It’s all about getting better, and we’ve got a lot to improve upon,” he admitted.
“I say a lot, but it’s pretty simple. We know we’re not at our best yet – not many teams are, aside from Wigan – so we have to graft our way to a win.
“No one likes losing, but when all things are considered it’s round three.
“We’ve got to change things around to get results. It’s not going to be pretty – it’s wet, it’s greasy, it’s a hard slog.”