Wednesday 20 July 2016 13:53, UK
Each week I am asked to select my Top 5 tries. It's never easy as we get so many to choose from and it's a subjective decision determining which one I think is the best.
My choice this week was as much to do with the speed of thought to create and score it, as it was its significance. It wasn't just that it came at an important time in the match, it mattered more as for where it put the team in August and September.
I doubt that any Wakefield supporter would have predicted a win for their team at the start of the season when the fixture list showed an away game in Perpignan in mid-July. After defeat in their first two games of the year, it looked as though the best they could hope for was a survival scrap in the £1m match.
However, since losing to Castleford in Round 2, they have managed to get to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup and win 10 out of their next 20 Super League games. It's worth remembering that they only managed to win three out of their 23 games in Super League last year.
There is still a long way go to this season but whatever happens I can't see a team surpassing the progress of the Wildcats. Well, I know you might say that they haven't won anything yet, but their win in France deserved a small trophy in itself.
The weather was hot, the game was hard and the Dragons were desperate to win but the try from Bill Tupou was the 'tipping point' in the match. If they can 'back' that victory up with another one against the Tigers this week they will finish sixth after the first phase of the season. Unbelievable!
What has the difference been?
The first person who everyone looks at when a team win or lose in sport is the coach or manager. Chris Chester's year began at Hull KR with expectations of making the Top 8. Bizarrely, he has made it with the team who most people thought would finish 12th.
As an outsider looking in, it appears as though his personality is well suited to the bunch of players at the club. In my opinion, even in July, he'd have to be a strong contender for Coach of the Year whatever happens when the Top 8 teams start to complete for the play-offs. As one door closed at Hull KR he walked through another at Belle Vue and has never looked back.
He has been helped by the recruitment that the club did in the off season. I don't know who made the decisions, but several of them have been successful. Anthony Tupou and Tinirau Arona have added some quality, and the decision to sign Liam Finn has seemed a masterstroke. He has partnered Jacob Miller in all 22 rounds so far, but unlike Miller, who has been on the field for every minute of every match, the Wildcats have withdrawn Finn to rest him at times. They have used his vision, match-day experience and kicks to help influence the outcome of games. Their partnership has been a key reason for their success in 2016.
Tom Johnstone is a year older and better, Nick Scruton and Matt Ashurst have impressed me and they have discovered another young and talented player in Max Jowitt. Michael Sio and Ben Jones-Bishop have made important contributions and I'm not sure that there is a more aggressive or determined hooker in Super League this year than Scott Moore. Last year Sio only played four games in Super League, this year he has featured in 20 and done plenty.
When you look closely at the league table and scan your eye over the points difference column you wonder how the Wildcats have put themselves in the top half. Their for and against points values would usually put them at or close to the bottom. In general, they have won the tight games and lost by big margins, with one or two exceptions.
I'm writing to congratulate them now for a brilliant season so far. Who knows what will happen when the Top 8 teams play each other, the Wildcats might win some and lose some, but it can't take away from the credit they deserve right now.
Lots of people within the game talk about the way that Leeds and Huddersfield have fallen from the top to the bottom, and haven't in my opinion given enough praise to what has happened with Wakefield. They've not quite gone from the bottom to the top but it ranks as the most impressive year-on-year improvement that I can recall.
Congratulations, I hope you had a great trip home from France.
