Wakefield Trinity coach Chris Chester pleased to see the back of a difficult season

Double up: Two-try Ryan Hampshire touches down for Wakefield.
Picture Bruce Rollinson — Double up: Two-try Ryan Hampshire touches down for Wakefield. Picture Bruce Rollinson

Trinity have battled with injuries and coronavirus-related issues since Betfred Super League resumed in August and had to reshuffle their team at short notice after captain and half-back Jacob Miller was diagnosed with a stress fracture of an ankle.

“It has been crazy, some people don’t understand what goes on behind the scenes and what has happened to us this year,” Chester said after seeing Trinity stage a valiant second-half fightback in their fifth game in 16 days.

“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.

No stopping him: Trinity forward Kelepi Taginoa drives over for his second try against Salford.
Picture Bruce Rollinson — No stopping him: Trinity forward Kelepi Taginoa drives over for his second try against Salford. Picture Bruce Rollinson

“It has been like that all season and I am glad to see the back of it, to be honest.”

Wakefield were 22-4 behind at half-time, but cut the gap to just two points before a late try settled Salford’s nerves.

“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.

“Considering what we’ve had to go through in the last 24 hours, I thought it was a really positive display.”

Big forward Kelepi Tanginoa was the star of Trinity’s second half resurgence, sharing their four tries with Ryan Hampshire.

“He is a really important player and we need to build a team around him,” Chester said.

“As a club we will fight tooth and nail to make that happen.

“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.”

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