Willie Poching says that his Wakefield Trinity side have learned the lessons from a surprise pre-season defeat ahead of their Super League opener against Hull FC.
Wakefield were beaten 22-18 by neighbours Featherstone Rovers in their final friendly before the new campaign, and have had three weeks since to reflect.
Rovers might be strong promotion candidates in the Championship but, with a strong first-team squad, losing to lower-league opposition was a concerning outcome for Wakefield.
Poching admits the performance was not up to scratch but is glad for the learning experience and believes the team can be stronger for it.
“There were a few,” the Trinity head coach said on the lessons to be taken. “We didn’t start very well at all. Some of the attention we paid to the detail of some of our systems and how we want to execute our plays were off.
“It was about taking the lessons from and being able to learn from it. Now when you look back on it, I hope it turns out to be a good thing, because I am comfortable that we have taken the learnings from that game as a coaching staff and as a group.
“We’ve really worked hard on rectifying some of those things, but also keep polishing the stuff that we did quite well. There were some things we did okay in that game.
“We were going to get challenged by Featherstone. As they proved on Monday night, they’re going to be sitting around the top of that league and challenging for a spot in Super League. Outside of the teams we’re going to play week in and week out, they’re the next best opposition.
“As an exercise it was important we went through it. It was a real challenge, a real grind. We’ve had to work our way out, take some honest lessons.
“Even if we had won the game, I don’t know if the honest lessons would have been learned, They’d probably have been papered over a little bit.
“Losing the game probably helps you to reflect honestly on the game and that’s probably better than playing a side and winning 50 or 60-0.”
Wakefield are missing Bill Tupou (knee), Lee Kershaw and Jack Croft (both ACL) for the visit of Hull while there was no place in the squad for new signings Jai Whitbread, Sadiq Adebiyi or John Davetanivalu.
However their other five off-season additions – Tom Lineham, Liam Hood, Lee Gaskell, Corey Hall and Thomas Minns – could all make competitive debuts.
