WATCH: Wakefield Trinity boss Chris Chester glad to see back of 2020 campaign
The West Yorkshire club were 22-4 down against Salford Red Devils at Emerald Headingley last night.
They hit back to 22-20 as Kelepi Tanginoa and Ryan Hampshire each completed try doubles but ultimately saw the Challenge Cup finalists pull away at the death.
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Hide AdWakefield lost captain Jacob Miller in the build-up to last night’s game with the Australian half-back diagnosed with a stress fracture of an ankle.
“We gave ourselves too much to do,” Chester admitted.
“We had to change the team an hour and a half before kick-off, which wasn’t ideal.
“We had to move Kyle Wood to half and Connor Bailey in the other half and put young Harry Bowes in at hooker.
“I thought he was really good for us and will have learned a lot of important lessons.
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Hide Ad“Considering what we’ve had to go through in the last 24 hours, I thought it was a really positive display.”
Australian Tanginoa was the star of the show once more, though, as the explosive second-row finished off an excellent campaign for Trinity.
Chester added: “He is a really important player and we need to build a team around him.
“As a club we will fight tooth and nail to make that happen.
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Hide Ad“I know there’s a lot of clubs probably sniffing around Kelepi, but the kid is loving life at Wakefield Trinity - as is his family - and we are hopeful we can get something sorted long-term and build a team around him.
“That has got to be a priority, with a half-back a very close second.”
Trinity, who finished tenth, played 19 of their 20 rounds, more than any other Super League side, in a season where they were badly affected by Covid-related issues and injuries.
“It has been crazy,” conceded Chester.
“Some people don’t understand what goes on behind the scenes and what has happened to us this year.
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Hide Ad“We have a Friday game, train Monday and Tuesday with a team and then get tested and on Thursday, team run day, your team looks totally different and you have to try and make things up at short notice to suit the players who come into your team.
“It has been like that all season and I am glad to see the back of it, to be honest.”