# 2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season

The Wakefield Trinity Wildcats' 137th season saw them enter their eleventh Super League campaign, as well as the 2009 Challenge Cup.

## Transfers

Transfers for 2009 (in)
| Name | Transferred from | Date released |
| James Stosic | Gold Coast Titans | October 2008 |
| Steve Snitch | Huddersfield Giants | October 2008 |
| Dave Halley | Bradford Bulls | October 2008 |
Transfers for 2009 (out)
| Name | Transferred to | Date released |
| Duncan MacGillivray | Retired | October 2008 |
| Paul Reilly | Oldham R.L.F.C. | October 2008 |
| Brett Ferres | Castleford Tigers | October 2008 |
| Joe Hirst | Featherstone Rovers | October 2008 |
| Josh Griffin | Huddersfield Giants | October 2008 |
| Kyle Wood | Doncaster | October 2008 |
| Jason Golden | Harlequins RL | October 2008 |

## Full squad

| No | Player | Position | Previous club |
| 1 | Matt Blaymire | Full back | York City Knights |
| 2 | Damien Blanch | Wing | Widnes Vikings |
| 3 | Tony Martin | Centre | New Zealand Warriors |
| 4 | Ryan Atkins | Centre | Bradford Bulls |
| 5 | Matthew Petersen | Wing | Gold Coast Titans |
| 6 | Jamie Rooney | Stand off | Featherstone Rovers |
| 7 | Danny Brough | Scrum half | Castleford Tigers |
| 8 | Jason Demetriou | Utility | Widnes Vikings |
| 9 | Brad Drew | Hooker | Huddersfield Giants |
| 10 | Danny Sculthorpe | Prop | Wigan Warriors |
| 11 | Stephen "Steve" Snitch | Second row | Huddersfield Giants |
| 12 | Oliver Wilkes | Second row | Widnes Vikings |
| 13 | Scott Grix | Utility | Widnes Vikings |
| 14 | Sam Obst | Hooker | Whitehaven |
| 15 | James Stosic | Prop | Gold Coast Titans |
| 16 | Ricky Bibey | Prop | Leigh Centurions |
| 17 | Kevin Henderson | Centre | Leigh Centurions |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Sean Gleeson | Centre | Wigan Warriors |
| 20 | Tevita Leo-Latu | Hooker | Cronulla Sharks |
| 21 | |
| 22 | |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Dale Ferguson | Second rower | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 25 | Richard Moore | Prop | Leigh Centurions |
| 26 | Luke George | Winger | Huddersfield Giants |
| 27 | Aaron Murphy | Centre | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 28 | Kyle Bibb | Second rower | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 29 | Jay Pitts | Scrum half | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 30 | Cain Southernwood | Utility | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |

## Fixtures and results

| Competition | Round | Opponent | Result | Score | Home/away | Venue | Attendance | Date |
| Super League XIV | 17 $^†$ | Wigan Warriors | Win | 6–12 | Away | JJB Stadium | 14,377 | 8 February 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 1 | Leeds Rhinos | Loss | 18–4 | Away | Headingley Stadium | 15,643 | 13 February 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 2 | Salford City Reds | Win | 29–10 | Home | Belle Vue | 6,578 | 22 February 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 3 | Warrington Wolves | Win | 48–22 | Home | Belle Vue | 5,169 | 27 February 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 4 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Loss | 31–18 | Away | New Craven Park | 9,038 | 8 March 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 5 | Catalans Dragons | Win | 30–10 | Home | Belle Vue | 4,807 | 15 March 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 6 $^‡$ | Crusaders | N/A | P–P | Away | Brewery Field | N/A | 22 March 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 7 | St. Helens | Loss | 18–42 | Home | Belle Vue | 6,038 | 27 March 2009 |
| Challenge Cup 2009 | 4 | Leigh Centurions | Win | 54–0 | Home | Belle Vue | 2,637 | 3 April 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 8 | Castleford Tigers | Win | 6–35 | Away | The Jungle | 10,155 | 10 April 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 9 | Bradford Bulls | Win | 24–22 | Home | Belle Vue | 6,516 | 13 April 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 10 | Hull F.C. | Win | 14–21 | Away | KC Stadium | 11,975 | 17 April 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 11 | Wigan Warriors | Loss | 26–40 | Home | Belle Vue | 5,521 | 26 April 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 12 | Bradford Bulls | Loss | 16–32 | Neutral | Murrayfield Stadium | 29,627 | 2 May 2009 |
| Challenge Cup 2009 | 5 | Wigan Warriors | Loss | 17–28 | Home | Belle Vue | 4,883 | 9 May 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 13 | Harlequins RL | Loss | 24–17 | Away | The Twickenham Stoop | 3,612 | 17 May 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 14 | Huddersfield Giants | Loss | 6–54 | Home | Belle Vue | 5,037 | 24 May 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 6 | Celtic Crusaders | Win | 6–50 | Away | Brewery Field | 2,089 | 30 May 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 15 | Bradford Bulls | Loss | 36–22 | Away | Grattan Stadium | 8,387 | 7 June 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 16 | Hull FC | Win | 37–22 | Home | Belle Vue | 4,721 | 13 June 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 18 | Harlequins RL | Win | 20–18 | Home | Belle Vue | 5,079 | 28 June 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 19 | Huddersfield Giants | Loss | 30–14 | Away | Galpharm Stadium | 7,486 | 5 July 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 20 | Leeds Rhinos | Loss | 30–32 | Home | Belle Vue | 6,425 | 10 July 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 21 | St Helens | Win | 20–22 | Away | GPW Recruitment Stadium | 8,651 | 17 July 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 22 | Castleford Tigers | Loss | 12–20 | Home | Belle Vue | 8,371 | 26 July 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 23 | Salford City Reds | Win | 24–30 | Away | The Willows | 3,151 | 31 July 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 24 | Celtic Crusaders | Win | 46–12 | Home | Belle Vue | 7,893 | 16 August 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 25 | Warrington Wolves | Win | 28–40 | Away | Halliwell Jones Stadium | 8,681 | 23 August 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 26 | Catalans Dragons | Win | 20–34 | Away | Stade Gilbert Brutus | 8,755 | 5 September 2009 |
| Super League XIV | 27 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Win | 24–10 | Home | Belle Vue | 6,328 | 13 September 2009 |
| Super League XIV Play-offs | Qualifier | Catalans Dragons | Loss | 16–25 | Home | Belle Vue | 4,008 | 19 September 2009 |
* †: Game rearranged due to pitch maintenance work at the JJB Stadium during June.
* ‡: Game postponed in respect to the death of Wakefield player, Leon Walker, who received a fatal injury during the reserves' game. Game rearranged for 30 May 2009.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Leeds Rhinos (L, C) | 27 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 805 | 453 | +352 | 42 | Play-offs |
| 2 | St Helens | 27 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 733 | 466 | +267 | 38 | Play-offs |
| 3 | Huddersfield Giants | 27 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 690 | 416 | +274 | 36 | Play-offs |
| 4 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 27 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 650 | 516 | +134 | 35 | Play-offs |
| 5 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 27 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 685 | 609 | +76 | 32 | Play-offs |
| 6 | Wigan Warriors | 27 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 659 | 551 | +108 | 30 | Play-offs |
| 7 | Castleford Tigers | 27 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 645 | 702 | −57 | 28 | Play-offs |
| 8 | Catalans Dragons | 27 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 613 | 660 | −47 | 26 | Play-offs |
| 9 | Bradford Bulls | 27 | 12 | 1 | 14 | 653 | 668 | −15 | 25 | |
| 10 | Warrington Wolves | 27 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 649 | 705 | −56 | 24 | |
| 11 | Harlequins | 27 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 591 | 691 | −100 | 22 | |
| 12 | Hull F.C. | 27 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 502 | 623 | −121 | 20 | |
| 13 | Salford City Reds | 27 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 456 | 754 | −298 | 14 | |
| 14 | Celtic Crusaders | 27 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 357 | 874 | −517 | 6 | |

## Death of Leon Walker

On 22 March 2009, Leon Walker, a reserve player, collapsed in the 63rd minute of a game against Crusaders Reserves at Maesteg rugby union ground. He was airlifted to Morriston Hospital, Swansea where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. He was 20 years old at the time of his death. An inquest subsequently found that his death was the result of a rare undiagnosed heart defect, and the coroner ruled that he died of natural causes.
Walker started playing rugby league for the amateur side, the Churwell Chiefs. Walker joined the Salford City Reds in 2006 and played for the club for three years. After his rookie season he was named the Salford Reds Junior Academy Player of the Year. In 2007 Walker represented both the Yorkshire and England U18 sides.
He joined the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in November 2008, joining their senior academy side.
Walker attended Morley High School and was a scaffolder by trade, and was the cousin and team mate of Luke Blake.