MASON Lino may have been named player of the match, but team-mate Caius Faatili make a big impact of his own as Wakefield Trinity stormed into the top six of the Betfred Super League.
Faatili got the ball rolling for the hosts in the 40-10 win over Warrington Wolves, running in two tries inside the first 10 minutes against the Betfred Challenge Cup finalists at the DIY Kitchens Stadium and underlining why he is averaging over eight metres per carry so far this year.
The 23-year-old prop joined Trinity as something of an unknown from Queensland Cup side Sunshine Coast Falcons ahead of the 2025 season and has exploded onto the Super League scene in recent weeks, following up a 70-metre try at Magic Weekend with a double against the Wolves.
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Too strong 💪
Caius Faatili gives Trinity an early lead ⚜️#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/15tjSEzJeX
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 18, 2025
“We can’t even tackle him in training,” Lino told Sky Sports. “I’m glad he’s on my team.
“We’ve got a good strike out on the edges and we’ve also got a good pack which is working really hard.
“We’re a bit low on numbers, but we’re really happy with how the boys are stepping up.”
Lino provided two try assists for the hosts as well in the match, giving head coach Daryl Powell an enjoyable victory over the club which sacked him midway through the 2023 season – ironically, after a defeat to Trinity.
Head coach Powell was full of praise not just for the way the Lino ran the show in the halves against Warrington, but how the Samoa international has stepped up in recent weeks as an assured presence when injuries were ravaging the squad.
“Mason has been holding us together in the spine and I thought he was unbelievable today,” Powell told Sky Sports.
“Max [Jowitt] and Josh [Rourke] and [Liam Hood] have been special as well, but Mason in it all has been unbelievable for us.
“He held us together in his organisation and he was superb.”
The win saw Wakefield edge into the play-off places, one point ahead of Hull FC, as the Super League regular season approaches the midway point.
The last of their three play-off appearances came in 2012 when the top eight qualified and while they finished fifth in 2017 and 2018, those were the Super Eights seasons where only the top four earned the right to battle it out for a place in the grand final.
Securing a play-off spot would be the perfect way to cap Trinity’s first season back in Super League, after being promoted following a Betfred Championship and AB Sundecks 1895 Cup double in 2024.
“That’s the goal, to play some back-end-of-the-year footy,” Lino said.
“We just want to take it week by week, keep improving focus on ourselves, get through our own processes, and see where it takes us.”
