{"id":787844,"date":"2026-09-30T21:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T21:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787844\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T21:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T21:38:15","slug":"wakefield-trinity-pair-blast-obscene-man-of-steel-snubs-as-star-questions-unfair-perception-of-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787844\/","title":{"rendered":"Wakefield Trinity pair blast “obscene” Man of Steel snubs as star questions unfair perception of club"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Wakefield Trinity stars Tom Johnstone and Jake Trueman have hit out at the lack of individual recognition for their teammates, with one labelling the omission of Tyson Smoothy and Caleb Hamlin-Uele from the Man of Steel shortlist as \u2018obscene.\u2019<\/p>\n

Despite Trinity\u2019s best-ever finish, culminating in a breathtaking 33-6 play-off semi-final demolition of Wigan Warriors, not a single Wakefield player made the final shortlist for Super League\u2019s top individual honour.<\/p>\n

Speaking at Grand Final media day, an outspoken Johnstone expressed disbelief that hooker Smoothy and powerhouse prop Hamlin-Uele were overlooked despite consistently outperforming their competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how Tyson is not there or thereabouts, and I don\u2019t know how Caleb wasn\u2019t further up the listing to be honest,\u201d Johnstone stated. \u201cI think them two have been unbelievable this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments were echoed by teammate Trueman, who said: \u201cI\u2019d probably expect Tyson Smoothy to be in with a shout. Caleb [Hamlin-Uele], maybe Isaiah [Vagana].<\/p>\n

\u201c[They are] guys who have played really well. I was surprised a couple of them guys didn\u2019t get in the Dream Team as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Super League Grand Final Preview Show and Man of Steel winner debated \u2013 Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show!<\/a><\/p>\n

Most Read on Serious About Rugby League<\/p>\n

Tom Johnstone calls out outdated perception as Wakefield Trinity target final statement<\/p>\n

In a direct comparison, Johnstone pointed to Smoothy\u2019s head-to-head battle with Wigan\u2019s eventual Man of Steel winner Brad O\u2019Neill, arguing that the stats favour the Trinity star.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaleb\u2019s been the best prop in the comp and Tyson, for me, has been the best player in the comp,\u201d Johnstone declared.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went to Wigan last week and played their Man of Steel contender, and obviously I\u2019m a bit of a rugby nerd, but if you look at the stats, Tyson\u2019s above him in nearly every aspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s still that \u2018Wakefield-of-old\u2019 mentality of \u2018it\u2019s not a top club so they don\u2019t quite get the recognition\u2019 in certain aspects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut hopefully it\u2019ll come if we get it done on Saturday night. To have them two not even in the talks is obscene to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the perceived disrespect, Johnstone insists Trinity have officially broken into Super League\u2019s elite bracket, with a victory over Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford set to seal their new reality once and for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, I think we\u2019ve done enough to gain that respect from people,\u201d Johnstone concluded. \u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing year and we\u2019re finally starting to achieve what we think we can achieve. But this is the big one\u2014it\u2019s all for nothing if we don\u2019t get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wakefield Trinity stars Tom Johnstone and Jake Trueman have hit out at the lack of individual recognition for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-787844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}