Wakefield Trinity boss predicts big response from star centre after England setback
Reece Lyne will bounce back following his England snub, Wakefield Trinity coach Chris Chester reckons.
The centre is among the players dropped from national coach Shaun Wane’s latest performance squad after being included earlier in the season.
That leaves winger Tom Johnstone as the only Trinity man currently in Wane’s plans for next year’s World Cup.
Lyne will return to Trinity’s side - after being rested against Leeds Rhinos last weekend - when they complete their Betfred Super League campaign against Salford Red Devils at Emerald Headingley this evening.
Chester said: “We’ve had a good chat and, to be fair, everything Shaun said, Reece agreed with.
“Consistency-wise, he has probably not been where he needs to be.
“He has been excellent these last three or four weeks, but there’s certain parts of his game Shaun thinks he needs to improve and it will be good for Reece.
“He knows what he needs to do in pre-season and next year to get a spot in that World Cup.”
Chester added: “He is disappointed, but understands Shaun’s reasons. He needs to be our best player week-in, week-out and, to his own standards, he has not been where he wants to be.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll come back really strong next year and he’ll have another good performance on Friday night.”
Johnstone has retained his place in the England set up - after recovering from two knee reconstructions in three years - and Chester hailed that as “great for Tom and the club”.
He added: “It’s pleasing we’ve still got one guy in the shake-up. I would have liked to see a couple more players in there, but I certainly think with Tom we’ve got an international winger on our hands and I genuinely believe Reece Lyne will be a regular international over the coming years.”
Of who else could be in World Cup contention, Chester said: “I like the way Matty Ashurst goes about his job.
“What you see is what you get with him, he is an eight/nine out of 10 every week.
“He does all the dirty work and defensively is really sound. I would love to see him in and around that squad, but we have a lot of good back-rowers here and quite a few in the NRL.”