Chris Chester was full of admiration for his players despite falling to defeat against Hull.
Jake Connor’s late try condemned Wakefield to a 12-8 opening day defeat.
Wakefield played in atrocious conditions following injuries, and although disappointed to lose, Chester refused to criticise his players.
“I think both teams need commending,” he said.
“In them atrocious conditions I think both teams need a round of applause. It was a tough, physical game out there. There wasn’t much between the two sides, we’re just disappointed to conceded late on out there. We just need to be a little bit smarter in the ruck.
“I learnt a lot about my players. This time last year it would probably have been a 20/30 pointer. We had that grind mentality today. Fair play to Hull, they played well today but we more than matched them.”
Wakefield are waiting on injury reports for Anthony England and Matty Ashurst, who both received knocks.
“Engy is no good, he couldn’t even walk straight when he took off,” Chester said.
“Matty Ashurst is OK, he’s talking about what happened, but as a precaution, we had to take him off. It’s tough losing Engy, he’s been very, very good in pre-season and we found it tough without him on the field.”
A full report, including reaction from Lee Radford, an interview with Sam Williams and news of a Wakefield player gaining interest from Catalans is inside League Express. The paper is in stores now or online at totalrl.com/le
