DARYL POWELL felt that his side were unable to match Leigh’s intensity as the Leopards outfought Wakefield to progress through to the semi-finals.

Leigh scored three first-half tries and suffocated a Wakefield team which was starved of possession.

Trinity scored two consolations in the second 40, the first coming shortly after the break, but the damage was done with Powell admitting the opposition were on another level.

“Leigh were a couple of notches above what we have seen before,” said the Wakefield boss.

“They were superb throughout. There are so many big lessons for us because Leigh defended pretty tough all night.

“I don’t think we got enough right tonight. We tried to force the game a little bit, but we put the ball down every single time.

“I think we got beat through intent, they went to another level… there was a real intensity about their defence and we couldn’t really find the answers.”

Powell led Wakefield to their first play-off appearance since 2012, just a year on from their promotion from the Championship.

Reflecting on the campaign, Powell felt his side can be proud of what they have achieved, but he is hungry for more in 2026.

“The season itself has set a real platform,” he said. “When the dust has settled on tonight, we will be pretty proud of what we’ve done.

“The way the team has gone about their work has been class, I have been really proud of them.

“We want to be a top-four team… we have lost a lot of tight games this year which would have seen us a bit higher in the table had we won those.

“If you look at our stats over the season, there are some clear things we need to work on in pre-season and get better at.”