From the players & coach, it's not that they lost, it's the clueless way they lost, no effort & no organization !
If they cannot respond then regretfully, change /s has to be made !

My family and I have been supporters of our great club for 38 years. We have also been regular season ticket holders for the same time period as well

I have witnessed some disappointing team performances over the years (and you don’t become and remain a Trinity fan if you expect otherwise), and during that time I have never taken to social media to ventilate my frustration about a game, but I am unable to contain my sheer anger and embarrassment at today’s woeful performance which was quite frankly a disgrace.

Our club has always prided itself on its grit, team spirit and determination but there was none of that on display today. I accept that there were injuries in the game, and that obviously has an effect on the level of performance, but those injuries do not excuse the complete lack of effort and leadership from minute one of the game. The players who took to the pitch today – a virtually full strength side - were highly capable of competing with that Catalans side but they delivered up a performance devoid of effort and any attacking threat and need to take a long hard look at themselves. Whilst many rational fans can overlook a number of issues, a complete lack of effort is not one of them. If many supporters had turned up to work and put the level of effort in that those players did today, the reality is that they would be sacked or at the least be facing some kind of disciplinary process.

It is not just the players who must take responsibility for that performance but also the coaching staff because the team is seemingly incapable of executing basic rugby league skills in both attack and, on the basis of today’s performance, defence. You did not need to listen to the embarrassing Sky commentary of the game to put your finger on the issues with the performance, which have not just appeared overnight but have been gradually developing ever since John Kear’s departure from the club and have often left us, and many supporters we know, feeling more and more disheartened with the direction of the team’s approach to playing the game:


1. There was no structure in attack whatsoever and at times you could throw a blanket over the whole team in the middle of the park. It may be unfair to draw comparisons with other teams but look at Salford, a team very similar to ours in terms of the calibre of playing personnel and budget constraints, who week in week out play free flowing rugby, utilise a deep attacking line, run onto the ball and use dummy runners to confuse the defence. In far too many games our attacking line is too flat, players do not run onto the ball, the passing is laboured/misdirected and there is too much one out rugby which makes it is so easy for defenders to gang tackle and pick off our runners. We desperately need a midfield general who can organise attacking structures because we seem rudderless in attack and have done for some time.

2. The kicking on last tackle of sets is woeful. In both this game, and the Wigan game last week, we did not contest kicks and kick pressure was virtually non-existent. We also seem unable to get any appreciable distance on kick-offs compared with other teams so whilst we end up taking first tackles on our 10m line, the opposition manage to reach the 20m line before being tackled.

3. Leadership from the captain was non-existent and often seems to be. It was plain for everyone to see today that there was no leadership on the field when heads dropped and when stood under the sticks - try after try - there was little, if any, communication from the captain to the other players.

4. The defence, which has been decent and has so often kept us in games over the last couple of seasons, deserted the team today but that is not the issue which concerns so many supporters.

5. The players last week and this week look completely unfit, lethargic and uncommitted to the cause. General fitness and match fitness are different but look at the NRL teams and many other Super League clubs, who right from the restart, are competing at the level they should be.

I am no coach and don’t profess to be one; just someone who cares passionately about my club and is frustrated by regularly attending matches and seeing points 1 – 3 identified above game after game, which have been issues now for a couple of seasons. I don’t know what the answer is but maybe an attacking coach to assist Chris Chester and a half back who can marshal the team around the park. I fear that if we continue to perform like we have for the rest of the season there will be a significant reduction in season ticket numbers, supporters will fall away and attracting new fans will be extremely challenging.

I listened to Chris Chester’s post match Sky press conference and I am all for blooding the younger lads in the squad and giving them a chance to prove themselves for the rest of the season but, let’s not be under any illusions here, that is not the panacea to issues 1-3 above, which many fans perceive as fundamental problems which urgently need addressing if we are to compete and survive at the highest level.

All of my family and I have committed to forgo any refund/rebate on our season tickets and have indicated that we will purchase season tickets for next season but, unless the level of commitment that Trinity deserves from its team and coaching staff is significantly raised over the next few games, I am afraid that regrettably we will no longer be season ticket holders and will no longer be sponsors in the future. For supporters for nearly 40 years this really is not an easy thing to say but it is unfair to expect loyal fans to give up valuable time and spend significant money supporting a team not willing to put in the effort and with seemingly no pride when they put on the red, white and blue.

The players today just didn't look up for it. They looked flat, they looked soft and not up for a fight. There was no leadership on the pitch and it appears none off it. Games are going to come thick and fast over the next few weeks and to turn todays performance around is a big ask for the players and coaching staff. Are they capable ?, with 5 wins from the last 22 games I don't thing so.

Milky is no good as captain, Chester is out of ideas and has no clue how to motivate his squad, and I've no idea what Gilmore does, but it doesn't seem to be much.

My other team, Barnsley FC, had one or two occasions during the season just finished when they played "pretty badly", although not to the same level as today's debacle. What did the Club do? They made a public apology to all the fans and, I believe, on one particular instance they reimbursed travelling fans' expenses. I wonder if we will see any public statement from Belle Vue.

They'll just blame the fans for not backing them while they get trounced

Something seems so wrong with this club at the moment.

How can we go toe to toe one week, against one of the top sides over the past 30 years, and then serve up something like this.

We have a coach, with 5 wins in about 23 games, an ex NRL player as captain, who seems undroppable, despite his last half decent game 2 seasons ago.

Add to this, our self appointed CEO goes away from social media. I do recall him saying when he became chairman back in August 2013, that the club need to be more transparent.

I don’t think the club could be any more transparent. I don’t know why MC is getting flak for today.

The buck stops with Chester. For the past two years at least the rugby served up has been one dimensional.

I guess he's getting flack because ultimately, he's one of the decision makers about where we go next, and history tells us that he's unwilling/unable to have the difficult conversations with coaching staff

An excellent post and some very good points.

There is no excusing today’s performance, it was abysmal from start to finish...we got an early warning down our right side being cut open with ease but didn’t fix it up.

I hate to point at individuals but the timing of Gigot coming in couldn’t have been worse for us...was excited to hear when he’d signed but at the moment he just hasn’t fitted in...he hasn’t earned the right to be playing full back when we’ve had Jowitt, Walker and Hampshire all play there and done much, much better over the last few seasons...if he was to come in anywhere it should have been in the halves for Brough, or even Miller!

Don’t think it’s down to fitness either because last week we finished very strongly...definitely no sign of it there IMO.

Our problem is just the basics at the moment...we’re turning over too much ball too cheaply and just can’t get on the front foot....when we complete at a high percentage and finish sets off well we’re a good side capable of beating anyone...we just haven’t done that though!

Problem is, with the new changes brought in it’s becoming a brutal game if you don’t respect possession and we’re seeing big scores because of it...just to back that up and to question your point 5 and regarding the NRL...here’s a number of results from that comp in the last 5-6 weeks..

Eels 42-4 Cowboys
Gold Coast 10-40 Cronulla
Cowboys 16-42 Roosters
St.George 34-4 Manly
Melbourne 42-6 Gold Coast
West Tigers 48-0 Brisbane
NZ Warriors 10-46 Cronulla
Brisbane 8-46 Melbourne
Manly 12-42 Penrith
Melbourne 41-10 Cantebury
Newcastle 44-4 West Tigers

Add to that just a couple of round of super league and we’ve already had scores of 34-6...14-40...40-10...54-18...0-48 and 58-0...

When you collectively put in a performance as bad as we did today the best way to answer is to put it right and if you could hand pick a fixture to do it, then a cup tie against the team who have just embarrassed you sounds the perfect one to me!

Back to basics...respect possession, run hard, tackle hard and the openings will come!

Just one of many one sided scorelines since Super League resumed. It seems that with a lot of clubs, once one of them gets a decent lead....game over. Obviously apart from when you guys played Wigan, and Leeds v Huddersfield. Very strange....even though there is no relegation this season.

Sorry but if you have been a Wakefield fan for 38 years and today is the time you feel you need to speak out then you need to have a reality check. Today is the only time in those years that you have felt the need to vent your frustrations is because the internet hasn't been around that long. I'm sure before that you bemoaned your teams performance in a pub etc before that but you had no platform to do so. Yes you played poor today, very poor, but all sides do. You have hammered my team (Wigan) on your own midden on more than a few occasions and have had a lot more scalps along the way. You have gone from a second rate in the lower tiers to mid table to play off challenging side in Super League those 38 years and all i can see is progress. You have started in the last 5 years at least to bring through some very good young players and have recruited very well. All sides have bad seasons. I think you need a sense of perspective of where you have been and where you are now when you look at the likes of Widnes and Bradfoed, even the likes of Halifax. 38 years ago you would have been the underdog against sides like that and now you mix it with the best of them. Don't be so knee jerk, every fan of every club wants better for their team (mine included) but it's been a strange season, let's just get it out of the way and start a fresh next term and appreciate that you are a fan of a club that has made leaps and bounds over the years with limited resources and facilities.

I for one understand where you're coming from with your comments, but the guy has many valid points.
I don't mind losing in a contested game. I also accept that there are times when you get the occasional thrashing. It wouldn't be too bad if the situation was that, but sadly, it isn't.
We've been playing (IMO) some dumb rugby in quite a lot of games prior to lockdown.
I really think a lot of it stems from lack of direction on the pitch. Danny Brough tried but, let's face it, his legs were no longer SL standard! The last organiser we had, as such, was Liam Finn and boy I wish we had him now . Milky annoys me, because he has all the attributes to be an outstanding player, but rarely do we see his skills. I don't think he's Captain material and that may be affecting his game. Would it be an appropriate time to try a Jowitt/Hampshire half back pairing?
In some games you think the players have thrown the towel in, and a scoreline such as we have just witnessed makes it very hard not to think that.
I hope they prover me very wrong and that a different team turns up next time!

Going back to when we signed Danny Brough he was seen as the missing link at that time. Unfortunately it didnt work out , but whats changed. We deffo need a half back and maybe 2. Chester will never know his best squad while he makes so many changes and omissions from the squad. Without doubt the best time would be now to have different combinations but in the half backs an additions needed.
Supporters on the whole seem to except that we are unlikely to win or reach the grand final or the challenge cup but along the way have some fantastic results.
While ever we are bit players the club will simplly chug along with no acheivements , and every now and again come up with a stinker like yesterday.

Completely half d performance form minute 1.
Did last weeks comeback really take so much out of the players ?

With the injuries that we picked up during the game, victory was never going to happen but, Catalan looked like a well coached, organised rugby league side.
We, on the other hand, looked ill prepared and beaten and that was before a ball had been kicked (or passed).
After the effort shown in the 2nd half last week, just what changed ?

Our offence was THE most shambolic that I can remember, totally devoid of any structure / ideas.

We certainly shouldn't have changed the HB pairing.
Chester needs to decide who his best pairing are and give them PLENTY of games together, not chop and change each week.
Catalan deserve some credit for their defence, which was superb, albeit, that it wasn't exactly tested, our forwards gave in very early on after getting bullied, which just shouldn't happen at this level.
Where on earth were our leaders /enforcers.

Very, very disappointing and possibly the most inept display under Chester and there needs to be one hell of a reaction next week.

Unless the Wigan fan has watched every single Wakefield game over the last two seasons then he cannot sensibly discuss the issues which I have raised.

For the avoidance of any doubt, I am not in any way, shape or form questioning that our club has made giant strides forward over the last 4 or 5 seasons and that is to testimony in no small part to the efforts and stewardship of Michael Carter. I have the utmost respect for Michael and what he has done to transform our great club from a very dark place, which has been nothing short of a minor miracle when you consider the financial constraints within which he has had to operate.

Beating a couple of understrength Wigan teams over the past two or three years on our home patch means nothing in the context of the deep-rooted issues I have identified. Although our team has put in some tremendous shifts over the past two years, particularly last season in the face of extreme adversity and an injury crisis which was probably the worst which any super league club has had to deal with, effort only gets you so far and the win/loss ratio for this period does not lie. Hopefully yesterday was just a blip which we will not see again and we can put it behind us. Who knows, maybe CC was luring Catalans into a fall sense of security and we are going to hit them in the Challenge Cup with a different type of performance - I sincerely hope so.

We were a mid-table side two/three years ago but we are not in that place now and have not been for quite some time. Last year it was us, Hull KR, London and Huddersfield at the bottom of the pile. London were relegated and ever since Sezer joined Huddersfield they are a completely different outfit. With Toronto now gone, the reality is that Hull KR and our club are the struggling teams at the bottom and unless we change things then there is a good chance that we will end up being relegated next season – you can only dodge that trap door for so long.

So what has gone wrong and how do we fix it. There are so many facets of the game which combine to make a team successful – fitness, mental health, morale etc but what I think we need to distil it down to are the fundamentals of playing the game – defence and attack.

I think on the whole, yesterday apart, our defence has been pretty sound. However, the same cannot be said for the other half of our game - our attacking play – which is cause for concern, and has been cause for concern for some time.

Our attack has been spluttering and faltering for 2-3 seasons now. I turn up to games and watch the lads warm up and the moves look good but come game time the lads very rarely seem able to replicate the quick hands / deepish line / running onto the ball at pace of the training environment – it all seems to disappear and you have to wonder what the hell the guys are doing on the training paddock during the week. We fire occasionally in some games but more often than not we are devoid of ideas in the opposition 20m area and our last tackle option i.e. our kicking, is telegraphed or poorly executed giving sides 7 tackle sets and allowing them to march us down the field.

I accept that there have been victories but a lot of the time those have been eked out, difficult to watch come backs or occasions when we have been treated to an outstanding performance from our talisman, Big Dave.

If anyone has watched us play week in and week out since John Kear left and does think that there are major issues with our attack then they must be watching a different Trinity team to me. I do not know whether the issue is because John was responsible for our attack or whether Chris has had to take on too much of the coaching responsibility but I pinpoint the gradual demise in the attacking side of our game to when John left the club. The injuries I have mentioned above have obviously played their part and I accept that it is difficult to develop consistency and fluidity when the team sheet is changing on a weekly basis but we cannot keep raising that as an excuse for poor attack management. We need to have a system of attacking play (along the lines of a Saints, Castleford, Huddersfield/Salford) which is ingrained into the training regime of the club at every level and which all the players have to buy into. It won’t happen overnight but we now have what is effectively an extended pre-season to try things out and put things in place to make sure that we can compete next season in both defence and, crucialy, attack. If steps are not taken now to sort out our attack then I really fear for next season.

For me, we need to be looking at the teams that have historically been in the same place as we are in i.e. Salford, Huddersfield and (going back a little further) Castleford, to see what those clubs have done to transform their fortunes and in particular their attacking play. At Castleford Daryl came along and introduced a brand of attack which was the envy of other Super league clubs – yes you can point to the fact that he has not won any trophies but I would give my right leg to turn up and watch Wakey play the way that Cas do – ouch that hurt but it is the truth. One of the reasons for their success was until recently, whether you like him or not, the Cas playmaker Luke Gale. If you look at Salford, a club very similar to ours in a number of aspects, Watson has had them playing decent attacking rugby for two/three seasons now and the current and former Salford Halfbacks of Tui Lolohea and Jackson Hastings have played no small part in that success. With Huddersfield, it took Woolford a bit of time to replace Broughy but he has introduced Sezer and has got the Giants to play some great attacking rugby.

The common denominators to the attack management adopted by these clubs are an attack minded coach and a midfield general who can work the team around the park. Looking at our club, it seems to me that we may have a coach who has too much on his plate to devote the time required to develop our attack and we have no half back who can control a game but frankly I am not close enough to the club so cannot comment. On the midfield general, I am not convinced that any of Milky, Ryan or Max are the answer but I suspect the club will use our extended pre-season to find out. The Gigot signing was a bit baffling because I’m not sure a full back come centre come winger come half back is the answer. Without knowing the financials and availability of players, it is difficult to say whether we can bring in what is required but you do not necessarily have to flash the cash – look at what Liam Finn did for us.

The likes of Castleford, Salford and Huddersfield have found an attacking formula that is exciting to watch and, crucially, also wins games. I don’t see why we cannot look at how they play then first replicate it and then try and improve on it.

There is also another very good reason to make sure that our attack is firing on all cylinders. Winning games is obviously key but fans want to see their team playing an expansive and open attacking team because it puts bums on seats which for a club like ours has to be a priority. I have talked about those games where we have eked out victories but on those days I have often left the ground thinking great we have the win but feeling really frustrated that we’ve done it ugly and there must be another way to doing it. I think there is and more importantly I think that if we don’t sort the attack out we will be facing relegation again next year.

I can’t take this seriously. I’ve been watching since 1989 and I’ve seen far far worse.

Not making excuses we were dreadful but lets get some context.

We were never going to win that was obvious after 10 minutes we never got off the bus. That said injuries played a massive part after that Keats get real. Players totally out of position by the with fat too many having to play way more minutes than normal.

Move on it was a stinker but next week is another game and I’ve rarely seen a Trinity team not respond to a dire performance.

Well like you been watching a long long time, was at the Keighley debacle when half the team got sent off, hull at the height of our financial difficulties when half the team declined to play, catalan in the Paul Shorpe era but - to get real we have won 4 out of the last 26 games. With our first choice team we conceded 24 points in the first 20 odd minutes. Our lack of attacking ideas thereafter I can live with due to the injuries.

For me what makes this all so frustrating is the fact we seem to have assembled probably our best squad since we entered super league.

With the exception of Finn this same two years ago were playing free flowing attacking rugby - albeit inconsistent.

I can live with losing but not with a defence that’s lacking any organisation and very little effort. We played to lose yesterday, it’s hard to single out any one individual but there are several players including a couple of so called fans who need to take a long hard look at themselves

I stopped reading all that as soon as I got to the bit about Sezer being the major difference at Hudds, as he has done sweet fanny Adams IMO, Gaskell has been the better half and they missed him more yesterday then the 20mins they were without sezer.
People need to realise that this season is a write off in all sense of the word bar 4 or 5 clubs who have a chance, the rest are all bit players. Plus with all this BLM shizzle from last week and the fact there are currently 9 SL payers testing positive for C-19 then things really need to be put in to perspective.
Just watch the season out, none of us are any worse of than we were yesterday morning, there's more important things going on in the world and on our doorstep

Chester should have gone last season before he ever put us in the position of nearly being relegated. As others have said, this season is a write off with no relegation, so why not use the opportunity to get rid of the deadwood (players and coaches) and start afresh giving the opportunity to young players in a safer (in league position terms) place for the rest of the season.

Putting the youngsters in always sounds good in theory but, they need to be drip fed into a side that is playing well.
Just throwing them in, hoping for improvement, wont help the side and more importantly, wont help the kids.

Our forwards were bullied out of the game yesterday.
Do you think throwing 19/20 year old's into that kind of game will help anyone?

Hopefully there will be some opportunities for Chester to have a look at all of the squad and some of the young up and coming players as the season progresses.

There are sure to be some changes for next week just to cover injuries but, if the 17 players go with the same attitude as yesterday, it will be the same result (or worse).

100% with the youngsters bit, we will be sure to mass more injuries than what we have now. I just hope we get a good dressing down, good weeks training and not least a good look at ourselves, man up and go again next weekend on a fresh piece of paper.

FWIW CC is probably coming to the end of his time at the club. Poor lads had no luck at all in the last 18 month but all the same unless you are an exceptional coach or a coach at a club with exceptional resources then 4-5 years is pretty much the limit.

We simply don’t have enough players capable of self motivation, quite a few are borderline SL standard. CC has probably got us much out of them as he could. It’s a simple economic truth that 2 years ago we were on the brink of being good. At that point we needed to replace Finn and a few others with some real quality. We simply couldn’t because we don’t have the cash and more importantly we don’t have the draw.

We’ve gone state it’s that simple. We have more quality than I’ve seen but we don’t have any leaders on the field.

I saw this with Toppo and Kear and it would of happened to Kelly. We simply can’t make the leap and haven’t been able too since the sixties. As an aside we are an unlucky club and have been since 68, gypsies curse they say but whatever the reason it’s painful reading.

CC will probably not see out the season. Sad because I think there is an excellent coach in there. I know some folk will shout about Watson at Salford but his time will come. Coaches who have lasted longer than 5 years at any club are rare, it’s just how it is, even in the sainted NRL.

This is all based on previous experience and I would love to be proved wrong I really would. The team currently needs a rocket up it bum and generally it’s very difficult for the incumbent coach to find let alone light the fuse.

Again hope I’m eating my words in a few weeks, it would certainly brighten up an otherwise dreadful year.

that Catalan team yesterday were far fitter, faster, stronger, they were hungry and enthusiastic to smash us to bits. We’ve got some decent backs with pace but the way our pack is playing we could have the full Aussie back line and it would be the same.
We built a big pack and we never use what we’ve got, we’ve got to take them on down the middle hard and straight and get on top. We’ve forwards chucking balls out all over the place, it’s so frustrating, we’ve our best prop on the bench get him on the field. We can’t afford to have back rowers just stood out wide against a pack like just passing on like a centre.
Like I say we’ve got big forwards so change the structure and play to them, we we’re crap last week, Wigan had a young inexperienced pack and we should of took them on and bullied them but no change of tactics and we got bullied. Clearly playing the same way over and over and over again isn’t working