Wakefield Trinity’s pursuit of Hull FC’s Jake Trueman explained including Lachlan Lam factor
Jake Trueman in action for Hull FC in 2024
Wakefield Trinity are keen on a deal to bring Hull FC half-back Jake Trueman to the club, as exclusively revealed by Love Rugby League on Saturday.
Trueman, who still has one year left on his contract at the MKM Stadium, is attracting interest from Trinity ahead of their potential return to Super League in 2025, in a move which would reunite the half-back with Daryl Powell, with the pair having worked together at Castleford Tigers.
But any move is not yet complete and is dependent on some factors, Love Rugby League has been informed. Naturally, one of those is Wakefield’s return to Super League – though it is understood that the club are confident internally they have done enough on and, perhaps most significantly, off the pitch to make the cut in 2025.
Hull are open to letting Trueman leave before the end of his contract but they themselves are in the market for a big-name half-back to bolster their ranks in 2025.
They have already signed Salford’s Cade Cust – with a deal to bring him to the club early expected to be completed next week, as first revealed by Hull Live – and Catalans Dragons loanee Jordan Abdull, who will return to the MKM Stadium.
But the intention for the Black and Whites is to have at least one more senior half-back alongside that duo. At present, that would be Trueman: but things have changed significantly in the last week with news that Lachlan Lam is potentially on the transfer market.
Lam’s reported desire to leave Leigh after triggering a clause in his Leopards contract has alerted multiple Super League clubs to his potential availability – and Hull are firmly interested in bringing the Papua New Guinea international to the club.
Whether a deal can be done remains to be seen but Lam is the calibre of half-back Hull are in the market. Only if they secure a replacement would they then potentially sanction a release for Trueman.
Lam is not the only half-back Hull are monitoring though, with any expectation a deal for the Leigh man being straightforward far from the case, given the complexities of his contractual situation and the dispute taking place between the club and his management.
From a Wakefield perspective, Trueman is their primary half-back target as things stand. They have Olly Russell, Mason Lino and Myles Lawford – who is currently recovering from a serious injury – in their ranks for next year but are keen to add another big name to the mix to help them compete in Super League.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the move is being driven aggressively by Powell, who helped coach Trueman into one of the best half-backs in Super League during their time together at Castleford. There is a belief he can once again help rejuvenate his career after a difficult couple of years at Hull.
They are adamant they have the financial prowess and the vision to lure Trueman to the club – and for what it is worth, the half-back himself is open to the move.
But there needs to be at least one domino that needs to fall – centred around Hull’s own transfer business – before any deal comes to fruition.
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