Each year Wakefield Wildcats get written off, each year they find ways to confound the pundits and bookmakers, who routinely dismiss them as also-rans.

This season is no different. Despite last year’s highly commendable fifth-place finish in the Engage Super League, Wakefield are again tipped to be struggling towards the bottom of the table. The predictions meet a customary resigned sigh and knowing wink from John Kear, their coach.

Under Kear, who continues to be linked with the England coaching vacancy but has professed his commitment to Wakefield, the Wildcats play a brand of dashing, adventurous rugby league that helped them to win 16 of their 27 games in the regular season last year, before a disappointing early exit from the play-offs.

“We’ve worked hard through the pre-season training programme and three friendly games, now the boys just want to play and I’m happy that they’re in the right mood to acquit themselves well at Harlequins,” Kear said of today’s trip to London.

Their 66-1 price to win the Grand Final is partly a reflection of twice as many goings as comings at Wakefield, but Kear’s seven signings look astute ones on paper and a youth system starting to produce quality youngsters — Wakefield Under-18 beat Wigan Warriors in the 2009 academy competition final — has filled some gaps.

The former Bradford Bulls trio of Terry Newton, Glenn Morrison and Ben Jeffries, on his return to the club, are in the squad for the opening encounter at the Twickenham Stoop along with two former Great Britain internationals, Paul Johnson, from Warrington Wolves, and Paul King, from Hull, and a couple of Australians, Shane Tronc and Daryl Millard. Wakefield will be led by the totemic Jason Demetriou, the loose forward, who made his comeback in a friendly match on Sunday after knee surgery.

“Jason is a true professional and I wouldn’t have included him unless I was convinced that he had proved his fitness,” Kear said. “As our captain, he’s important to us and I’ve every faith in him.”

Demetriou, 34, missed only two games in struggling through to the end of the 2009 campaign. “It got to the point where I was taking a ridiculous amount of painkillers to get on the field and I didn’t have any explosive speed, which is a big part of the way I play,” he said.

“Towards the end of the season, the amount of drugs I was taking probably wasn’t good. My wife wasn’t happy with it. The surgeon told me in May, when I had my clean-out, that I needed it fixing, but I made the decision to keep playing with it. I was happy with the way I played, but I know I can go to another level now I’ve got my knee right.”

Wakefield kick off a week early to enable Harlequins to play Melbourne Storm next month in a warm-up match for the Australian champions’ World Club Challenge game with Leeds Rhinos on February 28, but Demetriou feels it can work to the Wildcats’ advantage. “Everyone by this stage is ready to go anyway,” he said. “They’re sick of pre-season and just want to get on with it. I’m sure most teams wouldn’t mind playing a week early and it gives us a chance to have a week off in round four.”

Harlequins, with lengthy injuries suffered in training to key performers in Rob Purdham and Luke Dorn, are arguably less anxious to get started. Brian McDermott gives debuts to Ben Bolger, 20, and Oliver Wilkes, Ben Jones-Bishop and Matt James, the new signings.