Wakefield Trinity host Leigh Leopards in opening Super League play-off eliminator on Friday

Wakefield Trinity host Leigh Leopards in the opening eliminator of the Super League play-offs at Wakefield on Friday. The fixture starts the eliminator phase of this season's play-offs.

Not long ago both clubs were considered unfancied — Wakefield battling at the foot of the table and Leigh fighting to remain in the top flight — but fortunes have shifted in recent seasons. Daryl Powell's arrival at Wakefield coincided with investment from owner Matt Ellis, a period that included winning the Championship League Leaders' Shield in 2024 and a return to Super League for the 2025 season. On their return the club secured a top-six finish and a play-off place at the first time of asking and this campaign they recorded their highest-ever Super League finish by ending fourth. "I'm really proud of the whole organisation," Powell told BBC Radio Leeds. "It comes from a lot of different people, from what we do with recruitment with Millsy [director of rugby Ste Mills] to the coaching team, which is like a band of brothers almost. "The playing group have been outstanding."

Wakefield slipped in the closing stages of the regular season, losing three of their final six matches including defeats by Leeds and Wigan. Powell set clear targets for the post-season and articulated the club's ambition: "For me to be supporting all that and driving what we do as a culture, to give us a chance to be a top-four club, we want to be a consistent top-four club," he added. "But then it's about getting [to the] play-offs, winning games in play-offs and having a crack at the Grand Final. "I've really enjoyed my time here. It's an awesome club and I think it's going to be a special club for years to come."

Leigh have also climbed the Super League hierarchy since their return to the top flight in 2023, rebranding as the Leopards, reaching the play-offs in each campaign since and winning the Challenge Cup. Manager Adrian Lam underlined how close his side have previously come to a Grand Final spot: "[We have] finished fifth, fourth, third and then back to fifth again this season," he told BBC Radio Manchester. "Two years in a row, people forget that we were 80 minutes away from Old Trafford and both at the hands of Wigan who ended up being in that Grand Final. "Maybe if we had a different path then things might have been different, but we've always been striving to be better to find a different path and maybe get to Old Trafford."

Leigh began the season with a victory against Leeds but then lost eight of the following 16 games in all competitions before finishing the regular campaign on a run of nine wins from 12 matches. They were defeated at home by Wakefield last week. Lam acknowledged the recent hiccup but remained upbeat about the group's prospects: "Maybe this is the year but I've been grateful of the group and everyone's worked really hard," he added. "We weren't great last week but that's OK, it's 'where there's life, there's hope' so here we go."

Winger Umyla Hanley has been named in his second successive Super League Dream Team despite making only 17 appearances this season, and the article reports he "looks set to be part of England boss Brian McDermott's plans before the Rugby League World Cup, which starts in October." Hanley described his near-departure from the sport after limited opportunities at Wigan and credited Lam for changing his trajectory: "I grew up in Wigan, I'm from Wigan, came to the first team after the academy and just didn't really get that much game time and didn't really know how to handle it as a young lad," he told BBC Radio Manchester. "I just kind of fell out of love with the game of rugby. I was going to hang it up and just work on site with my mates and have a laugh. But then Lammy gave me a call and he got me down to Leigh and the rest is history." He added: "It's when you're in the changing rooms with the lads after the game, before the game, even in training," he continued. "Those kind of moments, you can't buy, and then when you perform well on the pitch as well it's just just a big bonus."

Caleb Hamlin-Uele has been selected in this season's Dream Team in only his second Super League season after 38 career Super League appearances, and he attributed his rise to collective work behind the scenes: "It's a testament to how hard I've worked and how hard everyone else behind me has worked, because it's not just me," he said. The article notes Hamlin-Uele missed last season's play-offs through injury and did not play in Wakefield's win at Leigh last week, but he expressed his desire to be involved on Friday: "There's nothing more I want to do than just be with my brothers on that field, just trying to get us to Old Trafford," he said.

Neither club has yet reached a Super League Grand Final, and the Wakefield v Leigh tie in Wakefield on Friday opens the eliminator phase of this season's play-offs.