Chris Chester: ‘Wakefield aiming to get top four finish’

Chris Chester says Wakefield’s strength in depth could help them reach the top four this season.

Trinity sit joint top of the Super League table alongside St Helens, having won all three of their opening Super League fixtures.

And with Pauli Pauli, Ryan Hampshire, Justin Horo and Jordan Baldwinson joining Trinity in the off-season, Chester thinks the strength in depth could be vital in Wakefield’s top four hopes.

He told loverugbyleague.com: “We’ve got four points more than what we had this time last year so there are a lot of positives to be taken from the first three games.

“We want to try and get in the top four. I think we’ve certainly got the squad (capable of doing it). We’ve got a good mix of experience and some quality in the youth as well. We just want to make sure that we keep on improving.

“It’s probably not until squad number 27 before we get to the young kids. I think that is what got us to the position that we were in last year. We played people like Keegan Hirst, Chris Annakin, Jordan Crowther and James Batchelor because they were all ready to play and step in.

“We feel that we have got a little bit more quality in the squad this year than to what we had last year. We are going to be relying on them guys over Easter and they will get some game time for us over the next couple of weeks because they need to be ready for the Easter period.”

Chester admitted that their good start to the season has been down to a solid effort from the team but he has heaped praise on stand-out trio Bill Tupou, Scott Grix and Tinirau Arona.

He added: “I’ve been really impressed with Bill Tupou.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic for us. He had a nickname in Australia which was ‘the mini beast’ and (Manu) Vatuvei was nicknamed ‘the beast’ and you can tell why because his carries have been really good. Bill is a real handful when he carries the ball and defensively, he is really tough.

“I’ve been impressed with Grixy (Scott Grix) and Tinirau Arona. Tinirau has played big minutes in the middle. There are a couple of guys who have put their hands up and have been consistent in the first few weeks but it’s been a great team effort to get to the position where we are at this moment in time.”