Wakefield Trinity’s pursuit of Jake Trueman explained, including the Hull FC issue

Wakefield Trinity are keen on a deal to bring Hull FC midfielder Jake Trueman to the club, Love Rugby League exclusively revealed on Saturday.

Trueman, who still has a 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 that would reunite the midfielder with Daryl Powell, the pair having worked together at Castleford Tigers.

But any move is not yet complete and depends on some factors, Loves Rugby League was informed. Of course, one of those is Wakefield’s return to Super League – although the club are understood to be confident internally they have done enough on the pitch 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 looking for a big-name midfielder to boost their ranks in 2025.

They have already signed Cade Cust from Salford – with a deal to bring him to the club early due to be completed next week, as first revealed by Hull Live – and Catalans Dragons loanee Jordan Abdull, who will return to MKM Stadium.

But the intention of the black and whites is to have at least one more senior midfielder alongside that duo. Currently that would be Trueman: but things have changed significantly in the last week with the 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 several Super League clubs to his possible availability – and Hull are strongly interested in bringing the Papua New Guinea international to the club.

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Whether a deal can be agreed remains to be seen, but Lam is of the Hull defender’s caliber on the market. Only securing a replacement would potentially sanction Trueman’s release.

However, Lam is not the only defender Hull are monitoring, with any expectation of a deal for the Leigh man far from the case given the complexity of his contract situation and the ongoing dispute between the club and his management.

From a Wakefield perspective, Trueman is their top point guard target as it stands. They have Olly Russell, Mason Lino and Myles Lawford – 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 aggressively spearheaded by Powell, who helped coach Trueman become one of the best defenders in Super League during their time together at Castleford. There is a belief that he can once again help rejuvenate his career after a difficult few years at Hull.

They are convinced they have the financial flair and vision to lure Trueman to the club – and for what it’s worth, the midfielder himself is open to a move.

But there must be at least one domino that must fall – centered around Hull’s own transfer business – before any deal can go through.

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