John Kear is confident a deal can be struck to make Hull KR outcast Paul Cooke a Wakefield player in the coming days.

Cooke has been frozen out of the first-team picture at Craven Park despite having almost a year to run on the contract he controversially took up with them when he resigned as a Hull FC player three years ago.

And, following the Wildcat's 31-18 win over Rovers on Friday, Kear said: "He's a player I admire greatly and there are still negotiations going on. I think that is common knowledge. We would love to have him. I think things can be worked out to Paul's advantage, Hull KR's advantage and Wakefield's but it isn't a done deal yet."

Ironically, it was the performance of Sam Obst, playing in Cooke's preferred position of stand-off, that swung the game in Wakefield's favour.

They trailed 18-6 at half-time and played the first 10 minutes of the second half with 12 men after Danny Brough was sin-binned, but Obst produced a stunning one-man cameo to help them take the points and banish the memories of last weekend's 52-0 mauling by Huddersfield.

"The whole second half was a great response generally," Kear added. "We spoke at half-time about how we had to get through that period (without Brough) and they carried it out to the letter.

"I was delighted with the way Sam Obst stood up and took responsibility with Danny Brough on the sidelines. Sam took control of the game and that was the turning period. We were edgy and nervy in the first half, as you would be after a 52-0 hiding, but once we got a bit of confidence they started to enjoy it."