There has been a mental resilience embedded in Tom Chester’s DNA long before he rose to the Cowboys’ ranks. On one fateful day six years ago, that mettle was put to the test in heartbreaking circumstances.
Plying his trade for Townsville Brothers Leagues Club, Chester drove four hours south to Mackay’s West Tigers for the season’s final regular season clash, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the regions to merge leagues.
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 – grubber kicking for himself to score.
The next day, on the drive home, the Kayes were tragically killed in a car crash.
“That period was obviously very tough, my grandparents meant a lot to me. It was obviously tragic what happened, but life goes on, and I’ve just got to keep their memory alive,” Chester told this masthead.
“I know they loved their footy, and they’d be pretty proud. I wish they were here to watch me debut and stuff like that.”
Given how the ladder finished that year, Brothers had to venture back to the same Mackay ground for the following week’s 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.
It is his family connection – his parents attending every home game, and making the trip to Sydney for the Cowboys’ elimination final clash with the Sharks on Saturday – that has dictated the sort of teammate Chester wants to be.
“For me, it’s my family, and I’ll do anything for my teammates,” he said when asked what powers him through the ordeals he has endured.
“The way I play is, I’ve got my teammates’ backs, and I want to be a person that people want to play with.”
There were further instances of Chester’s willingness to put his body and mind through such rigours long before his breakout 2026 NRL campaign.
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 – scoring twice in a one-point loss.
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 that he sometimes needed to be saved from himself.
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.
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.
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.
“Last 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’d get injured again,” Chester said.
“It [the second rehab] wasn’t harder, it was just the thought of ‘am I going to come back? Am I going to be able to get back to where I was?’ Having the ACL on the same leg, it takes a toll on your body – it’s not just your knee that takes the hit, it’s everything else.
“It was tough, but I feel like I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s taught me a couple of things: resilience in rugby league is pretty important, and to be playing footy now, you don’t take it for granted.”
But Chester’s miracle comeback is complete, managing 23 caps this year to become a key pillar of the backline he grew up dreaming of joining.
“I’m a Townsville boy, and to represent this place is a dream come true. To do it in a finals series – my first finals series – I’m really excited for it,” he said.
Chester remains uncertain that the centres are where his long-term future lies – despite his form leading Queensland Maroons great Sam Thaiday to declare him a State of Origin bolter before this year’s series.
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.
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.
“At the moment, I really see myself as a centre and am really enjoying my time there – if a time comes for me to go out the back, I don’t know, but I’m loving my time at centre,” Chester said.
“I think it [Saturday night] is a reset for us – 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.”
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