POPULAR prop Eddie Battye will depart Wakefield saying his time at Trinity has been mainly enjoyable and backing the club to bounce back from the misery of relegation as they contemplate at least one campaign in the Championship.
The 31-year-old switched to Wakefield from London Broncos in 2021 after a loan stint in Yorkshire when Covid curtailed the lower leagues the year before.
He has looked on from a distance as London work to recover from their relegation from Super League in 2019, when he was an ever-present, and believes Trinity, who are set to sign departing Keighley hooker Thomas Doyle, can respond to a tough season.
While remaining tight-lipped on his next club amid rumours of a return to Sheffield, where he started his career, Battye told League Express: “Adjusting to the Championship after Super League can be tricky.
“I’ve been happy at the club and worked with some great people, but there’s no denying this year was difficult, and that can take its toll.
“As a group and a club, we have to admit we just weren’t good enough, but I do think we were playing better towards the back end of the season, and hopefully that’s something the club can build on.
“No one involved wanted Wakefield to end up in the Championship, but it’s happened, and the good thing is that the club are well placed, particularly with the IMG grading coming in.
“The stadium is developing nicely, and it looks like Wakefield will stay full-time and have a very experienced coach in Daryl Powell at the helm. I wish the club all the best.”
Powell will replace Mark Applegarth, and Battye added: “As a young coach, it was a tough task for Mash, but I think he did himself proud with the work he put in and the way he conducted himself.
“Losing his assistant (James Ford moved to Featherstone in mid-May), didn’t help, although Stu Dickens stepped in to help out, then Sean Long came in to give us a boost, but over the campaign as a whole, we maybe lacked that bit of Super League experience in the coaching staff.”
