{"id":885366,"date":"2026-09-09T06:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T06:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/885366\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T06:46:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T06:46:23","slug":"nrl-finals-2026-north-queensland-cowboys-tom-chester-opens-up-on-his-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/885366\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL finals 2026: North Queensland Cowboys\u2019 Tom Chester opens up on his battles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There has been a mental resilience embedded in Tom Chester\u2019s DNA long before he rose to the Cowboys\u2019 ranks. On one fateful day six years ago, that mettle was put to the test in heartbreaking circumstances.<\/p>\n

Plying his trade for Townsville Brothers Leagues Club, Chester drove four hours south to Mackay\u2019s West Tigers for the season\u2019s final regular season clash, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the regions to merge leagues.<\/p>\n

His grandparents, John and Carol Kayes, closely followed to watch him play, as they always did. While Brothers lost a four-point thriller, Chester treated them to an individual moment of brilliance \u2013 grubber kicking for himself to score.<\/p>\n

The next day, on the drive home, the Kayes were tragically killed in a car crash.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Chester has overcome personal tragedy and physical pain to become a key pillar of the Cowboys\u2019 backline.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThat period was obviously very tough, my grandparents meant a lot to me. It was obviously tragic what happened, but life goes on, and I\u2019ve just got to keep their memory alive,\u201d Chester told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know they loved their footy, and they\u2019d be pretty proud. I wish they were here to watch me debut and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given how the ladder finished that year, Brothers had to venture back to the same Mackay ground for the following week\u2019s semi-final. Chester, showing early signs that he would do anything for his team, embarked on the trip, helping to inspire a two-point triumph.<\/p>\n

It is his family connection \u2013 his parents attending every home game, and making the trip to Sydney for the Cowboys\u2019 elimination final clash with the Sharks on Saturday \u2013 that has dictated the sort of teammate Chester wants to be.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Former<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s my family, and I\u2019ll do anything for my teammates,\u201d he said when asked what powers him through the ordeals he has endured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I play is, I\u2019ve got my teammates\u2019 backs, and I want to be a person that people want to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were further instances of Chester\u2019s willingness to put his body and mind through such rigours long before his breakout 2026 NRL campaign.<\/p>\n

In his final year of Colts football for the Townsville Blackhawks, he battled a busted shoulder to line up at lock as his side charged to a grand final \u2013 scoring twice in a one-point loss.<\/p>\n

Then there were his Queensland Cup heroics for the Northern Pride, in which he ran for more than 400 metres in a game and led coach Eric Smith to laugh\u00a0 that he sometimes needed to be saved from himself.<\/a><\/p>\n

But those aforementioned shoulder setbacks would be just one of many serious injuries Chester would endure before becoming an NRL regular. Hamstring issues were merely the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Two ACL reconstructions were the ones that left him fearing his dreams of rugby league stardom would never eventuate, and they were the main culprits in keeping him to just 12 games in four years.<\/p>\n

His first ACL surgery came after managing six promising appearances in 2023, while his second, shortly before Christmas in 2024, cost him an entire year. He only returned to the field when the Cowboys opened this season in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, sitting out with my second ACL, was a pretty tough period in my life. It was obviously pretty difficult; I felt like every time I got my foot half back in the door after an injury, I\u2019d get injured again,\u201d Chester said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt [the second rehab] wasn\u2019t harder, it was just the thought of \u2018am I going to come back? Am I going to be able to get back to where I was?\u2019 Having the ACL on the same leg, it takes a toll on your body \u2013 it\u2019s not just your knee that takes the hit, it\u2019s everything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough, but I feel like I wouldn\u2019t change it for the world. It\u2019s taught me a couple of things: resilience in rugby league is pretty important, and to be playing footy now, you don\u2019t take it for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Chester\u2019s miracle comeback is complete, managing 23 caps this year to become a key pillar of the backline he grew up dreaming of joining.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Townsville boy, and to represent this place is a dream come true. To do it in a finals series \u2013 my first finals series \u2013 I\u2019m really excited for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chester remains uncertain that the centres are where his long-term future lies \u2013 despite his form leading Queensland Maroons great Sam Thaiday to declare him a State of Origin bolter before this year\u2019s series.<\/p>\n

Having been identified by North Queensland as a fullback, despite coming through the ranks in the halves, a chance in the No.1 jumper could present itself once Scott Drinkwater leaves for the Dragons.<\/p>\n

But for now, all hopes are on pulling off a miracle, as the Cowboys seek to overcome a poor 50-30 defeat to the Raiders, to orchestrate a Sharks boilover to keep their title ambitions alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, I really see myself as a centre and am really enjoying my time there \u2013 if a time comes for me to go out the back, I don\u2019t know, but I\u2019m loving my time at centre,\u201d Chester said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it [Saturday night] is a reset for us \u2013 that game was obviously not up to standard. We need to put a really good week of training together and head into the Sharks game with a lot of physicality and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-885366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}