THERE was a time when Danny Kirmond was Wakefield Trinity’s poster boy.
The captain, the ever-present played nine seasons at Belle Vue, registering over 150 appearances between 2012 and 2020 before leaving for the York Knights ahead of the 2021 Championship season.
Now Kirmond, who has been appointed assistant at Wakefield under new head coach Daryl Powell, has revealed why he left Trinity during that time.
“I was ageing and wasn’t really playing as many games as I wanted to,” Kirmond told the club’s YouTube channel. “Covid was a very frustrating time for myself playing-wise.
Normally if you aren’t playing you can have a real impact on the team by just being around the place and being involved in the group. Covid took that away – if you weren’t playing, you were away from the group and locked off a little bit.
“I wasn’t really enjoying it too much at the time and I spoke with Michael (previous owner Michael Carter) and said that this was probably it (at Wakefield). We always had a good relationship and he respected my view on it.
“I didn’t want to tinge the enjoyment I had here by ending it the wrong way.”
Kirmond actually explained that he was about to retire before interest from Featherstone Rovers came his way. That being said, such a move never materialised and instead the back-rower signed for York.
“I was actually going to retire but I had a little chat with James Webster who was at Featherstone at the time. He said he would like me to go there and finish where I started. That didn’t turn out.
“Then I met Fordy (York boss at the time, James Ford), who I played with at Fev back in the day, for a coffee and I loved his excitement for York and his ambition for the club.
“I didn’t want to go somewhere where they were participating for the sake of it, I wanted to go somewhere where I could add something and York was the right club for me.”
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