Where are they now? The Wakefield Trinity team that beat Bradford Bulls in Million Pound Game

Bradford and Wakefield’s West Yorkshire rivalry is one which dates pretty much as far back as our great game goes, meeting over 100 times.

In recent times, there’s probably no meeting between the pair more memorable than the 2015 Million Pound Game.

Trinity pipped the Bulls to the post at Belle Vue in front of a crowd of 7,236, with a 24-16 scoreline seeing them secure their Super League survival while condemning the visitors to a second year in the Championship.

Matty Blythe, Adrian Purtell and Danny Williams all got tries on the day for Bradford, with Danny Addy two from four with the boot. It wasn’t enough though, and the Bulls are still yet to return to the top flight almost a decade on.

With Wakefield re-energised following their first relegation from Super League in over 25 years last term, the two clubs meet again this weekend in the semi-finals of the 1895 Cup with a trip to Wembley on the line.

So, circa eight-and-a-half years on, where are the Wakefield team which won that first-ever Million Pound Game now?…

Jordan Tansey

Leeds-born Tansey was a thorn in the side of Bradford on many an occasion, kicking three goals in the MPG to earn six of Trinity’s 24 points. He only played eight games for Wakefield having arrived mid-season in 2015 and left after this game, and those were the only three goals he ever kicked for them.

The full-back played for Workington Town in 2018, and signed with Featherstone Rovers for 2019 but didn’t make a competitive appearance, hanging up his boots thereafter. As far as we understand, at 37, Tansey is now enjoying his retirement now alongside his family. If you know any different, get in touch!

Reece Lyne

Having started his career with hometown club Hull FC, Lyne spent 11 years at Wakefield with over 200 appearances for the club on his CV and 64 tries. While with Trinity, who he is still the all-time appearance holder for in the Super League era, the veteran also featured three times for England.

After last year’s relegation, Lyne moved on to Doncaster, who had just been promoted up to the Championship via the League 1 play-offs. The 31-year-old has appeared eight times to date for the Dons, including once against Wakefield, recently surpassing the milestone of 250 club career appearances.

Bill Tupou

Kiwi native Tupou, who represented Tonga on the international front, arrived at Belle Vue just a few months prior to the MPG following a release from his contract at NRL outfit Canberra Raiders.The former New Zealand Warriors ace would remain with Trinity until his retirement midway through 2022.

Hanging up his boots due to complications from a patella tendon injury which had cut short his 2021 campaign, ex- NRL Grand Finalist Tupou initially joined Wakefield’s backroom team, but with his 34th birthday coming up in July, he is now back in the Southern Hemisphere enjoying retirement.

Joe Arundel

Alongside him in the centres that day was Leeds-born Arundel, who is still playing now in the Championship with, coincidentally, Bradford! The 32-year-old was still on loan at Wakefield from Hull FC when the MPG was played in 2015 and kicked a goal on the day to earn two points for Trinity, missing another conversion attempt.

Arundel has been at Odsal since the start of last season, with the Bulls the 10th club he’s donned a shirt for to date, recently surpassing 250 career appearances including the one to his name for England Knights back in 2011. As well as playing part-time for Bradford, the veteran is also a qualified gas engineer.

Tom Johnstone

If reports are to be believed, we will see Johnstone make a return to Belle Vue in 2025 having featured 116 times for Trinity before departing for Catalans Dragons at the end of the 2022 season. Starting it out on loan at Featherstone Rovers before returning to Wakefield with a bang, 2015 was the speedster’s debut year, turning 20 only a few months prior to the MPG.

Now a four-time England international, the 28-year-old ended as joint-top try-scorer in Super League last year, losing out in the Grand Final with Catalans. Including his 87 tries for Trinity, Johnstone has crossed the whitewash 125 times in total to date in his career, and you’d fancy him to comfortably sail past 100 for the club if he does return next year.

Jacob Miller

Speaking of Catalans, without this MPG win, we would never have seen THAT memorable drop goal from Miller against the Dragons at Magic Weekend the following year. The Sydney-born half-back arrived at Belle Vue ahead of the 2015 season from Hull FC having also spent some time with Doncaster the year prior as a loanee.

He would remain with Trinity until the end of the 2022 season, ending on exactly 200 appearances for the club as he departed for Castleford Tigers. Penning a three-year-deal at the time, the 31-year-old – who has also featured for the Combined Nations All Stars – is tied down at The Jungle until at least the end of next season.

Pita Godinet

Christchurch-born Godinet‘s stay in Super League was a relatively short one, joining Wakefield ahead of the 2014 season, and departing after their victory in this MPG having appeared 45 times for the club in total, also making one appearance as a loanee for Featherstone.The 15-time Samoa international, who had come from New Zealand Warriors, returned to the NRL.

Linking up with Manly Sea Eagles and then Wests Tigers, he would venture back into Europe in the French Elite Championship, playing Villeneuve for a couple of years before going over to America with Atlanta Rhinos. Now 36, the playmaker is back in Australia playing country RL for the Dapto Canaries and appears to have taken up DJ’ing!

Nick Scruton

A year prior to the MPG, having gone into liquidation for the second time in two years, Bradford had actually sold two-time Super League winner Scruton to Wakefield. The prop penned one-year deal at Belle Vue, though eventually stayed for three, departing at the end of 2016.

Ending his career at Hull KR, the seven-time England international helped the Robins back to Super League and then helped them to stabilise back in the top flight. Retiring in 2019 due to a chronic shoulder injury, the 39-year-old was training to become an electrician, but instead turned from prop to cop as he took up a role with the police force.

Mikey Sio

Auckland native Sio linked up with Wakefield in June 2015 having already featured in a World Cup for Samoa, but his debut for Trinity was the first-ever ‘senior’ game he’d played at club level having appeared at second-grade Down Under and never the NRL.

With short stints on loan at both Halifax Panthers & Dewsbury Rams thrown in, he made a total of 64 appearances in the British game before heading back Down Under at the end of the 2017 campaign. Playing for Norths Devils until recently, the 30-year-old has also held various jobs – including in a warehouse and as a labourer, but is now an ‘Electrical Apprentice’ in Queensland.

Mickael Simon

Frenchman Simon has only spent two seasons outside of his home country to this point in his career, and both came at Wakefield, with 2015 the first. Joining from Catalans, the prop made 47 appearances for Trinity before returning to the Dragons at the end of the 2016 campaign and going on to win the Challenge Cup with them.

A 22-time France international, Simon’s second stint with the Dragons came to an end in 2020, joining hometown club Carcassonne in the French Elite Championship. The forward recently turned 37, and if you know what he’s up to now, get in touch!

Danny Kirmond

Now 38, local lad Kirmond had already made 17 appearances for Wakefield – as a loanee from Huddersfield Giants in 2010 – when he made a permanent move to Belle Vue ahead of the 2012 season. He would stay at Belle Vue until 2020, and only seven men have made more appearances for the club than his 174 overall in the Super League era.

Kirmond opened the scoring on the day in the MPG with a try in the 15th minute, one of his 46 for Trinity. The forward joined York following his departure from Belle Vue, and remained there until the end of last season, hanging up his boots and then returning to Wakefield as one of head coach Daryl Powell’s assistants.

Danny Washbrook

Fellow forward Washbrook also got on the scoresheet in the MPG, scoring Wakefield’s third try of the afternoon on the hour-mark to ease the pressure somewhat after the Bulls had got back to within two points on the scoreboard. The Hull native’s three-season stay at Belle Vue, which ended after this MPG, sandwiched two stints at hometown club Hull FC.

Washbrook, now 38, made 114 appearances for Trinity over those three campaigns. Like Kirmond, he ended his career at York, featuring 20 times for the Knights across the curtailed 2020 campaign and 2021. Washbrook is now the Director of an agency for construction workers in Hull.

Chris Annakin

Debuting for Wakefield in 2013, powerhouse Annakin only permanently departed at the end of the 2019 season, though spent a lot of time out on loan over the years contracted at Belle Vue with Workington Town, Featherstone Rovers, London Broncos & Dewsbury Rams.

Clocking up a total of 78 Trinity appearances, he joined hometown club Dewsbury permanently upon departing Belle Vue, eventually hanging up the boots in 2022 on medical advice. Now 33, Annakin runs an online fitness coaching business, and has taken up Ju-Jitsu as well as competing in numerous bare-knuckle boxing bouts.

Andy Yates (Interchange)

First up on the interchange bench is St Helens-born forward Yates, who joined Wakefield from Leeds at the start of 2015, but featured just three times for Trinity that season, including his run out in the MPG!

It never quite clicked for the now-34-year-old in Super League, with 84 of his 109 career appearances coming in Hunslet colours, the vast majority of those in the Championship. Having played 10 games for Trinity in 2016, he called it quits in the game and is now a personal trainer based in Saddleworth & Manchester.

Anthony Mullally (Interchange)

Seven-time Ireland international Mullally, on loan from Huddersfield at the time, came off the interchange bench to grab Trinity’s second try in the MPG on the 43-minute mark. That was his ninth and final appearance for the club, joining Leeds the year after and lifting the Super League trophy with the Rhinos in 2017.

Featuring for Toronto Wolfpack prior to their demise, Mullally – whose main role is as a high performance fitness coach – is still sort of active in the game now at the age of 32. His last appearance for League 1 outfit Cornwall came in 2022, but in February, he was named as their 18th man in the Challenge Cup defeat against community side York Acorn, unused in that tie.

Scott Moore (Interchange)

Moore sealed the deal in the MPG with his dart from dummy half to get over for a try in the 79th minute with Trinity 18-16 up at the time. He’d only joined them on loan a few weeks prior from Castleford, eventually signing a permanent deal for the following year. The St Helens native donned a shirt for nine clubs in total prior to hanging up his boots in 2019, including his boyhood club.

After retirement, three-time England international Moore ended up in trouble with the law, jailed in 2018 for a driving offence. At 36, he is now a free man oncemore however, and is enjoying retirement alongside his family with a lot of time spent travelling the world.

Ali Lauiti’iti (Interchange)

Lauiti’iti was 36 when he took to the field in the MPG, and that proved to be his final senior appearance of a memorable career. The New Zealand & Samoa international had made 200 appearances for Leeds and won numerous pieces of silverware prior to linking up with Wakefield, and racked up another 86 in Trinity colours.

Those numbers were on top of 115 for the New Zealand Warriors prior to making the move into the British game. Lauiti’iti, now 44, actually returned to the Warriors on a second-grade contract for 2016 before officially hanging up his boots. He’s now their official club chaplain on the side of running his own mobile coffee cart business!

Head coach: Brian Smith

Smith‘s coaching CV is among the longest and most diverse you’ll see, including roles Down Under, here in England and on the international scene with the USA, Serbia and Thailand! As far as we can see, Wakefield was the veteran’s last ‘professional’ head coach gig, in charge at Belle Vue from May 2015 to March 2016, when he resigned from his role.

Now 70, Smith – a two-time Coach of the Year in Australia – had already coached Bradford by the time he led Trinity to victory against them in the MPG. Eight-and-a-half years on from that win, he’s now taken on a ‘coaching consultant’ role with the Casino Cougars for this year, returning to his roots at his local team in his New South Wales hometown.

Bradford Bulls’ line-up from 2015 Million Pound Game

For reference, here’s the Bradford team from that game in 2015…

Starting 13: Jake Mullaney, Danny Williams, Adrian Purtell, Dane Nielsen, Matty Blythe, Lee Gaskell, Harry Siejka, Paul Clough, Adam O’Brien, Adam Sidlow, Tom Olbison, Dale Ferguson, Danny Addy

Interchanges: Jay Pitts, Jean-Philippe Baile, Steve Crossley, Epalahame Lauaki

Head coach: James Lowes