TOM JOHNSTONE knows all too well that bragging rights haven’t been common for Wakefield as he targets derby joy at “special” Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Castleford lie in store to open day two of Magic Weekend this Sunday at its new home by the Liverpool waterfront.

For star winger Johnstone, the fixture brings back bad memories of what was, until recently, Castleford’s regional dominance.

He lost his first ten clashes against Trinity’s fiercest rivals and only finally experienced derby joy in Easter 2025.

Wakefield have now won three from four since returning to Super League, including a 34-0 whitewash at the OneBore Stadium two months ago.

“I’d not beaten them at their place for Wakefield until this year,” said Johnstone.

“The deficit is still pretty big in their favour for wins and losses over the past ten years, so we want to turn that around and go on a run where Wakefield win a consecutive number of games.”

Wakefield were 32-8 winners over Castleford at last year’s Magic Weekend, held at St James’ Park in Newcastle.

The stage this time will be the home of Everton FC, which hosts only its second Rugby League event following November’s Ashes match against Australia.

With Johnstone playing on the wing, England were beaten 14-4 by Australia in front of a sold-out 52,106.

“It’s massive and it’s brand new but it’s a special ground. It’s pretty fitting for Magic Weekend because of how unique it is,” added the 30-year-old.

“When playing in the Ashes the atmosphere was electric because it feels like everyone is on top of you, it’s like a cauldron.

“I’m really looking forward to playing there again – it’ll be one of the highlights of the year.”

It’s an important period of the season for Wakefield, who are currently in the play-off pack but know a good or bad run of form could drastically alter their position in the table.

Johnstone said: “We got top six last year when people said it wasn’t achievable, so we want to go higher this year and really stake a claim for play-off spots.

“We want to go one further – we don’t just want to be in the quarters (Wakefield lost last year’s play-off eliminator at Leigh Leopards), we want to be in the semis and the final now.”