BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Derrell Olpherts is thriving in the Championship this season with top-of-the-table Wakefield Trinity but is after a return to Super League in 2025.
Olpherts only joined Trinity in March this year from Leeds Rhinos but the bustling winger has made an eye-catching impact at Belle Vue, bagging 18 tries in just 19 appearances.
Wakefield are leading the Championship, with one defeat from 19 games, and sit nine points clear of second-placed Toulouse.
However, with Olpherts’ contract at Trinity finishing at the end of this season, and with him not being offered a new deal by the club, the 32-year-old is seeking a move back to the top flight.
He started his career with Dewsbury in 2012 but made his name in Super League, over a five-season spell with Salford and Castleford from 2018 to 2022, that yielded 52 tries.
“I’m a free agent at the minute, I’m up for grabs,” Olpherts told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“I definitely want to stay full-time, I’ve definitely got plenty of life in me and I’m still playing good, consistent rugby.
“I rarely get injured and I definitely want to stay play full-time if possible. That’s the aim, just carry playing on how I’m playing and something will turn up. Just leave it to my agent to sort out.”
Olpherts has shone in the second tier in 2024, and is loving life at Wakefield, but admits he is seeking a switch back to Super League.
“I’d prefer to go back to Super League, I feel like I’ve got some unfinished business there,” he said.
“I went to Leeds off the back of a great season at Castleford stats-wise, I was one of the best wingers in the league when I transferred over there.
“And then I didn’t really hit any kind of form at Leeds, which I’m pretty disappointed about.
“I know I’m back at my kind of form where I want to be playing in Super League and playing against the best teams.
“But if the right offer did come up in the Championship I’d be obliged to think about it.”
Olpherts was signed by Leeds from Castleford at the end of 2022, but an unhappy spell at the Rhinos ended five months ago with just four tries from 14 appearances.
Leeds failed to make the playoffs last year and earlier this season axed coach Rohan Smith. The winger, who was often in and out of the Rhinos’ match-day squads, is unclear why things didn’t work out at Headingley.
“It’s a high-pressure environment at Leeds, they expect to win every game, which at such a rich history club you want to be winning week-in-week-out and challenging for Cups every year,” he said.
“I just didn’t hit any form that I wanted to there, to be honest with you. That were it for me, I had a good pre-season this year and I was just ready to play.
“I wanted to be on the field. You’re better on the field than off the field – in my eyes. So that’s why I made the move to Wakefield, to get back to the rugby I know I can play.
“It took me a couple of games to adjust at the start [at Wakefield], maybe three games, but once I got going I’ve been flowing.
“I feel like I’ve been playing great, consistent rugby and that’s what I came to Wakefield to do, to get plenty of game time and get some consistency back into my game with carries and metres, and getting some tries on the back of that is always a bonus.”
Trinity have taken the Championship by storm after suffering relegation and won the 1895 Cup at Wembley in June.
Olpherts has been impressed by the transformation at Wakefield under coach Daryl Powell and owner Matt Ellis, and believes the Dreadnoughts can make a mark back in Super League next year.
” It’s a different Wakefield club to what people are used to thinking about it with a new owner and a new stadium, and how they’re treating things,” he said.
“The team we’ve got now is a Super League team on paper, easily. We’d be challenging teams in Super League week-in-week-out with the team we’ve got now, so it’s great to be around.
“It just feels like you’re in a Super League side. We’re the only full-time in the league so it’s a great place to be and they’re leaving no stone unturned at Wakefield.
“It’s a class place to be at, I’m really enjoying my time there.”
