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.

2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season
← 2008 2010 →

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.^[1] Game rearranged for 30 May 2009.

League table

Pos	Team v t e	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
3	Huddersfield Giants	27	18	0	9	690	416	+274	36
4	Hull Kingston Rovers	27	17	1	9	650	516	+134	35
5	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	27	16	0	11	685	609	+76	32
6	Wigan Warriors	27	15	0	12	659	551	+108	30
7	Castleford Tigers	27	14	0	13	645	702	−57	28
8	Catalans Dragons	27	13	0	14	613	660	−47	26
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

Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners

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.^[2] He was 20 years old at the time of his death.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6][7]

Walker attended Morley High School and was a scaffolder by trade,^[8] and was the cousin and team mate of Luke Blake.^[9]