The pressure is all on top-four chasing St Helens tonight at Wakefield, says Trinity head of rugby John Kear: whose side can take another step closer to a first ever top-four finish with a win this evening.
Trinity know that if they beat Justin Holbrook’s side, they will all-but end the Saints’ play-off hopes for 2017, strengthening their own position in the progress.
But Kear says that as the side doing all the chasing, it is the Saints who are under pressure: not Trinity.
“The weight of expectation is all on St Helens because, let’s face it, if they lose tomorrow, they aren’t going to get in the top four,” Kear said. “It’s do or die for them.
“We don’t feel under any pressure because, once we got in the top eight, everybody thought that was us done. I was personally delighted about that.”
Kear also says that Wakefield have plenty of motivation for their top-four push – not least the fact that many pundits pointed out Trinity’s poor record in the play-offs in the past.
Kear said: “The so-called experts pointed out that we had never won a play-off game so that was one thing that inspired us. They are still writing us off and we enjoy that. It’s been the same at Wakefield since 1999 when they first came into Super League.
“We’re in fourth place now and two of our last three games are at home so it’s ours to lose now. The test will be nailing that and we’re confident we can do that.
“The players are very good spirits. When you play as well as they did last week, they can go into this game with a degree of confidence and anticipation.”
