Catalans Dragons v Wakefield Trinity - Chester hoping lockdown produces boost

Nevertheless, in the circumstances, Wakefield Trinity can head to the south of France confident they could possibly emerge from the Stade Gilbert Brutus with some crucial points.

Firstly, they have not been blighted by any Covid outbreaks which have become a common occurrence in recent weeks.

A self-imposed five-day lockdown and deep clean of their training facilities has helped result in a rare clean bill of health heading into tomorrow’s Super League game.

However, in contrast, their opponents have faced an arduous itinerary, twice flying over to England, latterly to beat an under-strength Leeds Rhinos on Wednesday, having already travelled for the previous Friday’s loss against Warrington Wolves.

“We go there as underdogs, but this will be their third game in 10 days,” said Trinity coach Chris Chester.

“There will be a lot of tired bodies and it’s important we complete our sets and look to tire them out towards the back end of the half.

“We are going there and back in a day – it is going to be an early start and a late finish – but we are ready.

“Our lockdown worked and we are starting to get some players back; by next week we should have the majority of the squad to pick from, which is a real positive for us.”

Wakefield have been beaten twice by Catalans in their current dismal run, including an embarrassing 58-0 defeat before being dumped out of the Challenge Cup by Steve McNamara’s side.

However, they gave Wigan Warriors a real battle last week before going down 28-16 and Chester – able to name the same 17 – believes they are close to emerging from their rut.

“I think we are a different team to that (58-0) day, with different personnel and different structures,” he said.

“That was a result we never saw coming and one that put us firmly in our place, but it’s not about revenge.

“I think there were lots of positive signs last week; we were very physical and we can take a lot from that performance and from what (Wigan coach) Adrian Lam had to say afterwards.

“He said it was the hardest game they’ve had since lockdown and that’s kind of a blueprint now – it is a benchmark of where we need to be consistently, week-in, week-out.”

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Thank you, James Mitchinson. Editor.