Wakefield Trinity v St Helens – ‘Honesty’ the best policy for Trinity against tough-looking Saints

INJURY BLOW: Wakefield Trinity hooker Tyler Randell.
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe — INJURY BLOW: Wakefield Trinity hooker Tyler Randell. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

The coach struggled to find the words after watching his meek team lose 42-24 at newly-promoted London Broncos on Sunday.

If they perform in the same manner against Saints, they can expect twice the damage.

However, Chester insisted: “We’ll bounce back. You don’t become a bad side overnight.

Wakefield Trinity coach Chris Chester. Picture: Tony Johnson.

“Watching it back it didn’t get any better. As a coaching staff we’ve seen it four times.

“We showed the players it on Monday. It was a big disappointment. Collectively we’ve had a look at what we did during the week and we probably didn’t prepare as well as we could have.

“I’ll take responsibility for that and the players will take responsibility for their part.

“We were second best in a lot of areas. But we have had a couple of good, honest discussions and two really good training days.”

Saints started at apace with a thrilling win at derby rivals Wigan Warriors. Their captain James Roby has just signed a new deal, the England hooker showing no signs of slowing up at 33.

Chester admitted; “He’s very difficult to deal with. He’s the guy that makes them tick, And just seems to get better with age.

“I was fortunate – or unfortunate – to play him when coming towards the end of my career. You could always tell people like him and James Graham would go on and do really good things.

“The way you stop people like James Roby is to be physical with their big blokes. If you stop that roll-on it kind of takes him out of the game.

“It’s a massive test for our forwards. We got outmuscled last week and were probably a bit dishonest in certain areas. They will really test our honesty.”

Danny Brough, Craig Kopczak and George King are all set to make their competitive home debuts, although hooker Tyler Randell is facing up to two months on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury which requires surgery.

Forward James Batchelor (knee) is also out, while Danny Kirmond comes into contention along with Craig Huby, who has recovered from damage to his knee.