Betfred Super League 2025: Wakefield aiming high in top-flight return

A new-look Wakefield Trinity are looking to leave a real mark on the 2025 Betfred Super League season after storming back to the top flight at the first time of asking last season.

Trinity’s 25-year unbroken run in Super League ended with a dismal 2023 campaign in which they lost their first 15 matches in all competitions and tallied just four victories under Mark Applegarth.

But Mike McMeeken leads a host of new names into the 2025 campaign, and the England international believes the bolstered pack could lay a platform in them achieving far more than just Super League safety with Daryl Powell at the helm.

“We’ve got a good forward pack, we’ve got a big, powerful forward pack but a lot of skill involved as well there, so we can help the outside backs getting the sets going. We’ve got some young half-backs with Jake Trueman and Oli Russell so we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do,” the new Trinity club captain tells Betfred after his recent arrival from Catalans Dragons.

“I’ll look to bring my experience and help the team out, but also I’m here to improve myself as a player as well. I’m not just coming here to take part, I want to be at the forefront of it and helping lead the team.”

McMeeken isn’t the only one making the trip from Perpignan to Wakefield to earn his corn in 2025, with star winger Tom Johnstone returning to the club where he made his name.

And Johnstone is thrilled to be a part of the Trinity setup once more after two years with the Dragons which yielded 37 tries in 46 appearances.

“I’m loving being back around the club, and it feels like a new club as well because of all the changes they’ve made and the journey they’ve been on while I’ve been away. I’m really loving it and I’m excited to get going,” explains the 29-year-old, who spent an initial eight years in the Wakefield first team between 2015 and 2022.

“Obviously they dominated [in the Betfred Championship] last year and it was probably a bit too easy for them in some regards so they’re used to winning and there’s a great buzz around the place.

“There’s a lot of players who haven’t played Super League before so they’re really excited to test themselves. For them, a lot of them will want to prove themselves so they’ll want to hit the ground running.”

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Exciting full-back Max Jowitt admits, though, that the top tier’s quality has risen during Wakefield’s hiatus.

“It’s a big step up to Super League, and from what I saw last year I think the standard has gone up a notch. Some of the games I watched, I just though ‘God!’ it’s the intensity of it. The skill has just gone up and we know we need to be on form in every single game.”

Wakefield will be looking to follow the 2023 example of Leigh Leopards, who returned to Super League with a real bang, winning the Betfred Challenge Cup and reaching the play-offs in consecutive seasons following promotion.

Trinity are 6/1 to finish in the top six, while they are a long 33/1 shot for Wembley success.

They begin their Super League comeback tour with a trip to AMT Headingley on Saturday, February 15 to face a Leeds Rhinos club under immediate pressure to improve on their 2024 showing.

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