Joe Westerman scored a try in his 350th career appearance as Wakefield Trinity defeated Leigh Centurions; Chris Chester: “I think Joe is playing the best rugby I have seen in a long time. I will meet (England coach) Shaun Wane on Tuesday and I will certainly sing his praises.”

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Highlights of Wakefield Trinity’s win over Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Super League

Wakefield coach Chris Chester has said he will push forward Joe Westerman for an England recall after scoring the 100th try of his career to help his side maintain their resurgence with a 30- win. 20 on the last Leigh club.

Westerman, 31, who made his only previous appearance for England against Samoa in 2014, spoke of his century in the 350th appearance of his career to help Trinity achieve three straight Super League victories.

“I think Joe Westerman is playing the best rugby I’ve seen in a long time,” Chester said. “I will meet Shaun Wane on Tuesday and I will certainly sing his praises.

“I gave him the freedom to play what he sees. He played 80 minutes today and did some good things.”

Joe Westerman (center) scored his 100th career try in his 350th appearance

Trinity was forced to work hard for points by an injured Centurion team who for long stretches seemed able to smash their duck.

Half-back Joe Mellor marked his return from a five-game injury absence with two tries as the Centurions held the lead twice and Wakefield needed two tries in the former’s final nine minutes. Leigh winger Liam Kay and scrum half Mason Lino to spare their blushes.

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“First and foremost I have to congratulate Leigh for the way they played,” said Chester. “They made it very difficult for us.

“It was very disjointed but the colon is what’s important and I’m glad we found a way to win.

“We talk about playing the Wakefield way, but sometimes you make mistakes and we made a lot of mistakes today which is disappointing, especially after last week where everything stalled.”

Wakefield winger Liam Kay scores a try against his former team

Wakefield will likely be without forward Kelepi Tanginoa for Friday’s game at Warrington as he came out after 12 minutes with a ‘dead leg’, but Chester said winger Tom Johnstone would make his comeback after a layoff two months.

Centurions interim coach Kurt Haggerty is hopeful that forwards Ben Flower, Nathaniel Peteru and Nathan Mason will return for Saturday’s home game against the Catalan Dragons.

They were among a host of injury absentees, which forced Haggerty to put three full-backs on the bench against Trinity.

Haggerty, who was handed the reins midweek after John Duffy’s departure, was delighted with his team’s performance despite a ninth loss in as many games and says he will be happy to stay in charge for so long. as owner Derek Beaumont wants. .

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“Considering the week we’ve had, I’m really happy with the energy of the players and we had the potential to pinch the game at times,” he said.

“They hurt in the locker room because the game was there to take, but for us to move forward it was a very good start.

“I will continue to take charge of the team until I have a further conversion with Derek. There is no rush at the moment but I am sure that at some point we will have a discussion.

“It’s not something I’m really concerned about right now.”