Wakefield Trinity: Chester tips Tupou for the Dream Team

Tupou will get an opportunity to show why he was named Wakefield’s fans’ and players’ player of the year and won the club’s Man of Steel award when Trinity visit Castleford Tigers in the Super-8s tomorrow.

The New Zealand-born back has been in outstanding form all season and his coach Chester said: “I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t get in the Dream Team.

“I don’t know if there’s a better ball-playing centre in the competition at the moment.

“I know I’m a bit biased, but he is consistently the top metre-maker and it looks like he is going to win that award at the end of the year.”

Tupou will need to be at his best tonight as Trinity chase a win to keep them on course for a fifth-placed finish.

“I’ve not beaten them for three years,” Chester said of Tigers.

“It is frustrating, we have been close a couple of times, but no cigar.

“They are always tough games against Castleford, especially on their own pitch.

“They know how to play every blade of grass there.

“We have got to match them physically at the start of the game and who knows?

“We will go there full of confidence and keep playing like we have nothing to lose.”

With the top-four out of reach, Trinity will be able to chance their arm and their coach wants to see them take the game to Tigers.

“The pressure’s off us,” he said.

“We will go there and try and throw the ball around and make sure we compete.

“If we do that we will give ourselves a chance.”

Wakefield will be without winger Tom Johnstone who is the joint top try scorer in Super League. Johnstone suffered a knee injury in last week’s win over Catalans Dragons, but Chester believes he has done enough already to deserve Dream Team honours.

“If you’re going on form over the last three or four months he is certainly in with a shot,” he said.

Ben Jones-Bishop will replace Johnstone tonight. He missed last week’s game because of the birth of his second child.

Danny Kirmond could return from a long-term knee injury and Tinirau Arona and Chris Annakin are also in contention, but Keegan Hirst drops out.