WAKEFIELD TRINITY are not exactly in the best position in the Super League table.
Rooted to the bottom with no wins in ten games, Mark Applegarth’s side are staring down the barrel of a gun.
Four points adrift with local neighbours Castleford Tigers the nearest team to them in the table, Applegarth is planning for both Super League and the Championship.
“I’m pretty blunt with this,”Applegarth said. “I don’t think enough people are realistic, it’s been a challenge for Wakefield Trinity in the last five years because we’ve always been in that vicious circle of being in that bottom three, I think 2017, 2018 was the last time we were in the play-offs.
“We’ve got to put two plans in place. Personally, I think we can stay in Super League – and I’m not going to tell you any different – but I’d be an absolute idiot to not be planning for both options, so we are putting two squads together in terms of budgeting.”
Applegarth also hinted at the difficulty of recruitment at Belle Vue since the last time they made the play-offs.
“If anyone thinks it’s been easy recruiting for Wakefield Trinity over the last five years then they’re kidding themselves.
“If a player does get an offer to come here they’re coming for the right reasons put it that way. Gone will be the days we’re getting a player in because there’s nobody else.
“We really want to move forward as a group and a club and ultimately I want Wakefield Trinity to move forward as an organisation.
“It’s the dawn of a new era with a new stand getting built. Obviously it’s a rocky road at the moment but you’ve always got to have the long-term success of the club at heart and sometimes that means with coming up with difficult decisions.
“We’ll be looking at our recruitment pretty close-knit and players are in the open market now, that’s just business.
“If someone comes along and offers a few thousand pounds more, are you going to stay in your current job? No, you will probably be tempted to go out there.
“The lads that are out of contract, you are trying to secure them but people are like vultures when you are near the bottom of the table!”