Positive Covid tests for Wakey
WAKEFIELD Trinity have lost four more players due to the coronavirus pandemic but say tonight’s Super League fixture with Huddersfield Giants at St Helens will go ahead.
Trinity coach Chris Chester revealed the latest news at his weekly press conference via zoom, describing it as “another kick in the teeth”.
A fortnight ago, Chester was left with just 17 players for a game against St Helens after being forced to stand down eight men through track and trace.
“We were made aware late last night of four positives this week, three players and one member of staff,” said Chester, whose side are due to host Hull KR on Sunday.
“They are now isolating for 10 days. We’ve had to stand two extra people down, one player and one member of staff, through track and trace.
“It’s another kick in the teeth. But we’ve got those guys back that missed the last couple of weeks through track and trace so we’re looking pretty fit and healthy to be honest.”
Although all Super League clubs have been adversely affected by the pandemic, Wakefield have been hit harder than most and Chester says they are struggling to find an explanation.
“It’s just guesswork,” he said. “We’ve no idea really. We kind of think it’s stemmed from the Catalans game and has slowly gone around the club. We’ve been really strict with what the players are doing.
“It’s obviously disappointing for those guys who are having to stand down again. There’s two players that have had to stand down three times now in the space of six or seven weeks.
“You’ve got to feel for some of these guys, they’re really going through it.
“The fortunate thing is that there’s still four weeks left of the season and we should get a couple of those back before the end of the year.”
Asked if he was now keen for the season to end, Chester said: “Probably about six weeks ago, to be honest.
“It’s just been one nightmare after another and obviously the performances on the field haven’t been particularly good. It’s been frustrating.”