After the opening two rounds, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats were sitting proudly at the top of the Super League table.

They had made their intentions clear with a strong 46-10 home triumph over Hull FC in their final warm-up game, and then backed it up with a 24-22 opening-day triumph at Castleford Tigers and big 44-24 home win over Hull KR.

All of a sudden, their top-flight rivals were sitting up and taking note, with rookie head coach James Webster being lauded for his efforts.

But then everything began to fall apart.

With injuries starting to bite, defeat followed defeat, with a Super League record 16 losses on the trot between February 15 and June 20.

As a result, Webster lost his job two months ago and was quickly replaced by fellow Australian Brian Smith – an announcement made during Magic Weekend on May 31.

It took several weeks for the former Bradford Bulls super coach to start to work some magic of his own.

But on Wednesday, July 1 his initial hard work finally paid off with the wretched losing run ended with a battling 26-16 home win over Hull FC in a re-arranged fixture.

And the Wildcats almost completed a stunning double four days later, just falling to a narrow 31-24 defeat at the KC Stadium in a game that could have gone either way.

That coincided with the start of the arrival of several new players and, with Smith looking to find the right team combinations, there have been home defeats to Warrington and Castleford in their last two games.

Those leave Wakefield 11 points adrift of second-bottom Salford at the foot of the table ahead of Sunday’s visit to the John Smith’s Stadium in the final game of the regular season.

The bookies give Wakefield little chance of recording a fourth success of the campaign against a Giants side needing to win to guarantee a fourth-placed finish.

But with Smith knowing how important it is for Wakefield to hit the ground running at the start of the Middle 8s in their bid to retain their Super League place in 2016, he’ll be expecting a very decent showing this weekend.

After the opening two rounds, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats were sitting proudly at the top of the Super League table.

They had made their intentions clear with a strong 46-10 home triumph over Hull FC in their final warm-up game, and then backed it up with a 24-22 opening-day triumph at Castleford Tigers and big 44-24 home win over Hull KR.

All of a sudden, their top-flight rivals were sitting up and taking note, with rookie head coach James Webster being lauded for his efforts.

But then everything began to fall apart.

With injuries starting to bite, defeat followed defeat, with a Super League record 16 losses on the trot between February 15 and June 20.

As a result, Webster lost his job two months ago and was quickly replaced by fellow Australian Brian Smith – an announcement made during Magic Weekend on May 31.

It took several weeks for the former Bradford Bulls super coach to start to work some magic of his own.

But on Wednesday, July 1 his initial hard work finally paid off with the wretched losing run ended with a battling 26-16 home win over Hull FC in a re-arranged fixture.

And the Wildcats almost completed a stunning double four days later, just falling to a narrow 31-24 defeat at the KC Stadium in a game that could have gone either way.

That coincided with the start of the arrival of several new players and, with Smith looking to find the right team combinations, there have been home defeats to Warrington and Castleford in their last two games.

Those leave Wakefield 11 points adrift of second-bottom Salford at the foot of the table ahead of Sunday’s visit to the John Smith’s Stadium in the final game of the regular season.

The bookies give Wakefield little chance of recording a fourth success of the campaign against a Giants side needing to win to guarantee a fourth-placed finish.

But with Smith knowing how important it is for Wakefield to hit the ground running at the start of the Middle 8s in their bid to retain their Super League place in 2016, he’ll be expecting a very decent showing this weekend.

On his day he remains one of the most exciting forwards in Super League.

And there’s no doubt former Leeds Rhinos favourite Ali Lauitiiti could be a major Wakefield threat this weekend.

With an offload that’s as effective as any in the top-flight competition, the Giants will need to keep a close eye on the big New Zealander.

If he’s allowed to get into his stride and his teammates follow his every move, Huddersfield will need to be on their guard to ensure the best defence in Super League isn’t subjected to a testing afternoon.