Wakefield Trinity are delighted to announce that six players have signed Scholarship contracts with the Club, having progressed through the ASUS Emerging Player Pathway (EPP) and TJs Travel Aspire programmes.
Year 10 duo Calub Winterhalder (East Leeds) and Harry Grainger (York Acorn) have both joined Wakefield Trinity Scholarship after narrowly missing out on the initial summer intake.
The pair continued to work hard and showcased their skill and determination to within our EPP set-up to earn Scholarship deals.
Year 11 quartet Alfie Moore (Dewsbury Moor), Dylan Padgett, Taylor Wainwright (both Shaw Cross Sharks), Nathan Wilson (Hunslet ARLFC) have also penned Scholarship contracts.
The four players have spent the past 10 months training weekly with Wakefield Trinity Aspire, impressing within that squad alongside their displays at EPP training and festivals.
John Bastian, Head of Youth at Wakefield Trinity, said: “I’m really pleased for all six players and they’ve really earned the opportunity to join Wakefield Trinity Scholarship.
“Having watched the EPP Programme in operation, it’s been really well organised and well structured. There’s lots of opportunities for the coaches to develop and improve, it’s not just about the junior players.
“All of the EPP players have been really responsive to the coaches and you can see that they’ve got the desire to want to achieve.
“That’s not just those that have been selected for the Scholarship side but so many more of the players, who we will continue to monitor over the next 12 months.
“Even if they don’t quite make that step into the Scholarship, if they’re impressing on the Aspire programme, if we’re in a position where we want to contract them, we’ll do so.
“We want players have that competitive edge and those six players stood out in that area. When you’re competing hard and putting that extra effort in, that’s when you’re skills tend to stand out. Those players showed a lot of that to myself and Simon (Bell, Head of Talent, Recruitment and Operations).
Alex Bielby, Community Rugby League Manager at Wakefield Trinity, added: “I’m delighted for all six players. They didn’t get that initial Scholarship place at the end of Year 9 but they’ve kept turning up and working hard on their games, getting better physically and in their core skill level.
“I’m really pleased for them that they’ve got this opportunity with the Scholarship.
“It’s really important to us that the players show their competitive edge, that they want to want to be the best versions of themselves, want to progress and are willing to put that work in to do that. All six of them have that and we believe they have real potential to kick on in the game.
“I think this proves that our EPP programme does work. Rugby League can be a later-developing sport and we want to keep providing as many opportunities as we can for players, both through EPP and Aspire.”
The ASUS EPP programme resumed for 2025/26 in October, with more than 150 participants aged 14 to 17 taking part in the Year 10+ sessions, while over 160 players, including 56 from Wakefield Trinity EPP, took part in the RFL’s Lions Development Programme Festival last month.
The TJs Travel Aspire programme is open to boys players aged 14 to 16, which runs alongside our Scholarship team, with players receiving rugby league skill coaching, lifestyle education, and strength & conditioning programmes.
For more information about the ASUS EPP programme or TJs Travel Aspire programme, please email alex.bielby@wakefieldtrinity.com!
To sign up for the ASUS EPP programme, please click the link HERE!