Friday night sees Trinity travel over to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to face a high-flying Warrington side, aiming to right their wrongs after last week’s defeat to Salford, and hopefully end their five game losing streak.
Trinity
Trinity lost out to Salford 44-20 last Sunday, and head coach Chris Chester had expressed his disappointment. As the race for a play-off place and to avoid relegation becomes tighter and closer every round, Trinity will enter this game with a must-win mindset.
Trinity are boosted by the return of the Big Bopper David Fifita and Mason Caton-Brown, however Danny Kirmond and Tyler Randell are both ruled out for the Warrington clash.
Titus Gwaze also retains his place in the head coach’s 19 and is set to make his debut this Friday, and youngster Connor Bailey is named, who recently signed a first-team contract after impressing the bosses.
Chris Chester has insisted there is still a lot of positivity within the playing group, and that it has been a positive week in the build-up to Friday’s fixture, despite a tough run of results. Chester has admitted that his side need to rediscover their confidence and form once again, and has shed light on potential returns for Bill Tupou, Matty Ashurst, and Joe Arundel in the upcoming weeks.
Wolves
Warrington occupy second place in the Betfred Super League table, and have lost only five of their fixtures all season.
They will be aiming to bounce back after an unpredicted 16-14 loss to Hull KR last Saturday.
Steve Price has named a 19-man squad which includes 2014 Man of Steel Daryl Clark and Joe Philbin, who return from injury. Price has recognised Trinity are no easy opponents, and Warrington will be treating this game as a crucial one, in order to keep the pressure on St Helens at the top of the table.
The ones to watch for the Warrington side include, NRL star and the current Super League top try-scorer Blake Austin, who has accumulated 17 tries in 18 rounds. Hooker Daryl Clark is another one to watch, as well as winger Josh Charnley, who has racked up a total of 2267 metres this season so far. Warrington veteran Chris Hill and danger man Ben Murdoch-Masila are two others Trinity will be looking out for.
Previous meetings
Trinity and the Wolves last met in March at the Mobile Rocket Stadium, where an incredible second half comeback was not enough to overcome the Warrington side, as Trinity lost agonisingly out 32-34.
Trinity’s last win against the Wolves was July 2017, with a 26-12 score-line on home turf. They also overturned Warrington on home soil in May 2016, 36-28.
Trinity came agonisingly close in 2018 on three occasions, including a 30-32 home loss, but great efforts were not enough to beat their opponents. Most Trinity fans will also remember 2017’s heart-breaking away loss at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. A Tom Lineham try was scored in the dying minutes of the match for the Wolves to clinch the win, so Trinity will be vigilant this time round to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Squads
Trinity (19-man squad) – Bailey, Brough, Caton-Brown, Croft, Crowther, England, Fifita, Gwaze, Hampshire, Hirst, Jones-Bishop, Kershaw, King, Kopczak, Lyne, Miller, Pauli, Tanginoa, Wood.
Warrington Wolves (19-man squad) – Akauola, Atkins, Austin, Charnley, D. Clark, J. Clark, Cooper, Currie, Davis, Goodwin, Hill, Hughes, Johnson, King, Mamo, Murdoch-Masila, Patton, Philbin, Tasi, Walker.
MATCH PREVIEW BY EMMA HOLLEY