14 July 2023 , 21:43
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Wakefield boss Mark Applegarth accused his players of falling in love with themselves after Super League’s bottom club crashed to a heavy defeat at Huddersfield.
Trinity had won three of their last four games to offer genuine hopes of survival. But this inept performance was back to their bad old days as Jake Connor and Tui Lolohea ripped them to shreds. Applegarth admitted: “We got out-played from minute one. We were flat.
"Hopefully it's a bit of a refocus for us. I’m not sure if we’d fallen in love with ourselves after riding a couple of wins - and forgetting what got us those wins. It hurts. We thought we’d play a lot better than that. We’ve not shown up tonight and we need to refocus coming into these last eight games.”
Trinity remain two points adrift of Castleford who visit Hull on Saturday. Star signing Connor has struggled since re-joining Giants from Hull this term, even being dropped to the reserves due to a lack of fitness. But the ex-England full-back, 28, came up with the silky plays, well-supported by the excellent Chris McQueen and two-try Lolohea, to torment the mistake-ridden visitors.
Trinity weren’t helped by losing stand-off Will Dagger - the golden point hero of last Friday’s epic win against Wigan - to a 14th minute head injury. He failed his HIA prompting another reshuffle for Applegarth. But his side were slow in defence and sloppy with the ball, not even getting in Huddersfield’s half in possession until past the half-hour mark. It was little wonder the hosts - undergoing their own revival after beating leaders Catalans in Perpignan last Saturday - got on top. After Samisoni Langi’s fumble, McQueen followed up his brace in France by blasting through Lee Kershaw for a fifth-minute opener.
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Oliver Russell slotted the first of his five goals and Dagger sailed the restart dead to set the tone. Wobbling Wakefield were glad Huddersfield’s ex-England winger Jermaine McGillvary bombed two great first-half chances. That kept the score down but they did get things right when Connor popped up on the right to slip Kevin Naiqama over. Scrum-half Mason Lino returned from injury for Wakefield but his last plays were poor. After one nothing kick from the Samoa star, Connor immediately responded by firing a brilliant 40/20. In the resulting set, it was the Giants full-back who appeared down the left to usher Sam Halsall over for the hosts’ third try, making it 16-0 on the stroke of half-time.
Huddersfield captain Luke Yates leads celebrations during win over Wakefield (PA)Ian Watson’s side only needed 90 seconds of the second period to extend that lead further. Although McQueen’s storming break was denied, McGillvary did eventually cross from Naiqama’s flick pass. The gaffes kept on coming from Trinity as Tom Lineham inexplicably spilled near his own line for Tui Lolohea to kick on and score.
Langi’s 63rd-minute try did at least they get nilled for a sixth time this season, Max Jowitt improving. But Lolohea stepped through for his second to complete the rout in what was Leroy Cudjoe's 350th appearance for the club. Tenth-placed Giants made sure they didn't get dragged into the relegation mix and Watson said: “It was a really good team performance. We’re getting back to our DNA. Our intent and defence the way we started the game was outstanding.”