Chester tragedy inspires his side
THERE will be extra emotion behind the efforts of Townsville Brothers this weekend — none more palpable than for Tom Chester.
The halfback’s grandparents, John and Carol Kayes, were tragically killed on Sunday in a horror car crash near Mount Surround as they returned home from watching him take on Wests Tigers in Mackay.
He even treated them to one final try, as he opened the scoring with a grubber kick through for himself to score.
But as much as Chester’s heart may ache, he has stated his intention to line up for his side today, when Brothers make the same trip south for their semi-final clash.
Townsville coach Roy Baira said the team would wear black armbands to pay their respects to Chester and his family.
Baira described his chief playmaker as “a really strong character” who was ready to avenge last week’s loss against the same opponents in the door-die clash.
He said the team was rallying around him, and players would be eager to do what they could to put a saddening week behind him.
The coach expects a big game from Chester, provided he does not decide the situation is too overwhelming.
“He’s all right, as soon as we heard about it I rang him up and sent our condolences from the club,” Baira said.
“He’s taken it as best as he could, he turned up to training and he was good. We’re just checking in on him each day to make sure he pulls through.
“You have to make sure everyone is on par and concentrating on rugby league. Tommy is the same as that, we’ve spoken and he said if he does play he’ll be concentrating on the team.
“Obviously there’s a little more go in us for Tommy, to play for him on the emotional side of things, but I’d say the boys will really dig deep for him.”
In the battle for the minor premiership, Brothers capitulated from a 14-6 halftime lead to go down 18-14 against Wests.
Baira lamented his side’s inability to dominate the contest in the middle of the field, with his forwards largely worn down by the Tigers pack.
However the loss is followed by the chance to instantly counter and learn from the misgivings that cost them last week.
With that in mind, Baira challenged Nathan Norford, Steve Martin and Sam Murphy to rise to the occasion.
“Last week Wests really put us to shame through that centre. We had a really good look at ourselves and thought we were better than what we did though the middle,” he said.
“Them beating us definitely hurt us, and we have to make sure we don’t feel that feeling again. I’ll put it on the boys, they can’t get beaten through that centre.”