Willie Poching rules out complacency as Wakefield Trinity look to confirm Super League safety

Trinity are on the brink of Super League safety thanks to a stunning win over Wigan Warriors last weekend.

Another victory against struggling Hull coupled with a loss for bottom side Toulouse Olympique at Wigan would leave Wakefield six points clear with three games remaining.

But after seeing his team produce a flat performance in the recent defeat by Catalans Dragons, Poching has no doubt Trinity will come out with the right attitude at the MKM Stadium tonight.

"We're trying to stay composed and keep our feet on the ground," he said.

"We've spoken about keeping ourselves level-headed. With a short turnaround, we've tried to do the right amount of work in our preparation to exert ourselves in the same way against another big opposition who will be hurting from their last game.

"Only a couple of weeks ago when we had a really good, spirited performance and a great win over Castleford, we came up against a depleted team in Catalans and were caught on the hop at the start of the game.

"We know as a group we've fallen into that trap before. We can't afford to be surprised or allow teams to get a jump on us; we need to be the ones to get in the driving seat as quickly as we can."

Wakefield's cushion over Toulouse is strengthened by an advantage worth 37 in the points difference column.

Poching is sensing a big opportunity this week but has warned that Sylvain Houles' side are not done yet.

"Mathematically it doesn't finish it but it gives us a good opportunity to create even more breathing space if Toulouse are unsuccessful at Wigan," he said.

"They'll be throwing everything they possibly can into their last four games. Whilst they're missing a couple of people now, they'll still be fighting right to the end.

"We can't just rely on them; we've got to focus on ourselves and pick up two points on every opportunity."

The ongoing relegation battle has prevented Wakefield from making early moves in the recruitment market.

But after claiming precious wins over Castleford Tigers and Wigan in recent weeks, Trinity can start to plan for 2023 with more confidence.

"It's in the back of our minds now," said Poching.

"We've been planning both ways for a little bit but we've been able to put some things in place a little bit more this week.

"Whilst not being sold on some of those, hopefully a couple more wins will put us in a position where we can really go hard at recruitment and planning."

Although Wakefield have found some form at the right time, it is tinged with a certain amount of regret.

"There's a little bit of frustration in it too, with the players as well, that we weren't able to perform to that level more often this year," added Poching.

"We'll take the lessons out of that."