Chris Chester unhappy with missing Wakefield Trinity star David Fifita

They endured a fourth successive loss yesterday and were kept pointless for the second time in three weeks after falling to a 36-0 loss against hosts Warrington Wolves.

Trinity were already missing three players due to self-isolating reasons but Australian prop Fifita was also stood down by the club on Friday for refusing to wear a GPS vest as part of Covid protocols.

Their injury issues further mounted as well last night with centre Bill Tupou and on-loan winger Innes Senior both going off injured, Tupou now automatically missing Thursday’s game at Leeds Rhinos after failing a HIA.

Given all of those problems, asked how disappointed he was in 31-year old Fifita’s stance, Chester said: “It’s disappointing in respect that you want all your best players out there.

“He’s the highest earner at the club and when Dave Fifta plays well we generally play well.

“The stance myself and club has taken is the right one; we’re in the middle of a pandemic here and we need players to abide by the rules so they can do track and trace.

“We have had one individual who’s chosen not to do it. It’s very frustrating.

“I can cop a suspension and an injury but this is something that should have been avoided and could have been.”

Fifita will have to sit out at least 14 days’ action and asked if the player gave a reason for refusing to wear the vest, Chester replied: “I’m led to believe it was ‘it’s too big’.

“I don’t think they do smaller ones. It’s something that the rest of his team-mates and we, as a club, have been made to suffer for.”

On his side’s performance, he added: “We’re doing it tough with injuries and the disruption during the week hasn’t helped but the scoreline doesn’t reflect the effort.

“We defended pretty tough second half but everything seemed to click for Warrington.”

Someone who did enjoy a much better day at Halliwell Jones Stadium was Andy Last, who picked up his first win as Hull interim head coach.

They defeated Huddersfield Giants 31-12 as the East Yorkshire club finally put a torrid month behind them.

His first game in charge was a 54-18 defeat against Salford Red Devils - their first game back after five months lockdown - but a dozen members of his squad and staff then tested positive for Covid forcing a further shutdown of two weeks.

However, with Last bringing in a raft of energetic, younger forwards, Hull raced into a 28-0 lead inside 31 minutes yesterday and then defended manfully.

“It was a much better performance,” said Last.

“We challenged the boys to show a response and I think they showed a great one.

“There had been questions asked about us and I said we needed a siege mentality.

“Some of the things being said about us did hurt me. But we got that response.”

Last named club legend and captain Danny Houghton on the bench, preferring 23-year-old Jordan Johnstone as his starting hooker, and high-profile Mahe Fonua was also out of the starting line-up.

Other senior players were left out completely. Asked if that was to make a statement after the Salford debacle, he said: “To an extent. I spoke to Danny and Mahe and they accepted the reason for making the decision.

“I thought they showed a great response and they played their role in the team exceptionally well. That’s the luxury I’m going to have moving forward with this squad.

“We have got depth, but I’m in a position now where I can select on performance. Selection is going to be interesting for the next game.”

Last added: “The young enthusiastic middles in Brad Fash, Jordan Johnstone, Joe Cator and Jordan Lane brought that energy to the team which we needed.

“It was a really accomplished first half, posting 28 points is outstanding against a good Huddersfield team.

“The second half was all about our character and tearing up for each other. We faced adversity and when we’ve faced that in the past we haven’t come up with the right answers but today I felt we did that.”

Elsewhere, in a bid to ease their growing injury concerns, Leeds last night made the surprise signing of their former England second-row Brett Ferres and fellow back-row Jack Harrison on an initial one-month loan deal from Featherstone Rovers.

Leeds have a dual-registration partnership with the Championship club whose head coach James Webster is also on the coaching staff at Rhinos.

Ferres, 34, won the 2017 Grand Final with Leeds and only ended his four-year spell at Headingley last winter while Harrison, 24, is one of the second-tier’s most promising forwards.

Director of rugby Kevin Sinfield said: “We have a busy period of games coming up and felt the need to bolster our squad both in terms of numbers in training but also to have options in case of injuries.

“Inevitably with shorter gaps between games, there will be players who miss fixtures with minor injuries on a week to week basis and in James and Brett we feel we are bringing players with a very specific purpose in mind.”

Meanwhile, of less surprise was Castleford Tigers confirming the signing of Salford’s England Knights full-back Niall Evalds on a one-year deal for 2021. Those sides play each other at Headingley on Thursday night.