Mark Applegarth not hiding from reality of Wakefield situation

Wakefield coach Mark Applegarth isn’t shying away from the reality his side find themselves in after suffering their ninth straight defeat.

Trinity were nilled for the fifth time this season on Sunday as they went down to a 32-0 defeat against the newly-promoted Leigh Leopards at Belle Vue.

Wakefield were 10-0 down at half-time but capitulated in the second half as the Leopards posted a further 22 unanswered points to take the victory.

Applegarth said: “Some of the things we saw in the second half are not acceptable but I can’t continue saying the same thing every week – the reality is we’ve got to fix it.

“In the first half I thought we were looking really good but we came out and did completely the opposite of what we said we were going to do.

“Credit to Leigh, who have seen a vulnerability and put their foot fully on our throat and exploited it.

“Ultimately I’m head coach so the buck stops with me. I’m p*ssed off when I see that because we’re doing one thing in training and coming out and doing another thing in a game, and that’s the kind of thing that rattles you as a coach.”

Mark Applegarth believes Wakefield can turn their fortunes around

It doesn’t get any easier for Wakefield, who face table toppers Warrington and Wigan in their next two games – but Applegarth says he isn’t hiding away from the reality of his situation.

“Of course I think I’m the right man – it’s just a difficult process that I have to go through,” said Applegarth.

“I don’t fear things that I can’t control. I’ve had some pretty honest chats with the board and I’ve never stepped away from it. If I thought that I was the issue I’d be the first to put my hand up. But I feel I’ve prepared a team as well as I could and we have gone out and failed to execute.”

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