Chester: We’ll come back stronger for Super 8s

Wakefield boss Chris Chester says he’s proud of his players despite seeing them end the regular season campaign outside of Super League’s top four.

Sunday’s 44-16 defeat at home to St Helens left Trinity fifth in the table, but Chester insisted his team have made great strides this season.

“We didn’t get off to great start – they came out of the blocks a lot quicker and got some momentum,” he said.

“We couldn’t contain their pack and we got taught a few lessons from a red-hot team.

“Even when we were twelve points behind late on, I always felt confident we could get back into the game but that first half really hurt us.

“That was where the game was lost. We showed a bit of fight and spirit in the second half but just came up short.

“It hurts that we’ve thrown away third spot and thrown away fourth spot but I’m also proud of this group of players because we’ve achieved what people thought we couldn’t, the top six.

“We’ve shown some progression this year and, when we look back, a couple of games have hurt us.

“We’ve made it a little bit tougher for ourselves with only three home games, but we’ve been written off all season and we’ll use that to motivate us.

“We’ll have some time off now and hopefully come back stronger for the Super 8s.”