Peet: Fans were outstanding

• Matt Peet praised the crowd for helping his side to victory on a cold night at the DW Stadium.
• Peet: “That’s when we’re playing with the right level of commitment, it’s when the fans get behind us like they did tonight.”
• FT | Wigan Warriors 34-12 Leeds Rhinos

Matt Peet thanked the fans as his side turned on the heat to beat Leeds on a chilly night at the DW stadium.

“A sincere thank you to the fans that came out in the conditions, both sets of fans,” Peet said.

“They deserve credit, the Leeds fans were great. It was a nice start for myself and this team, so many people made the effort to come out and the fans were outstanding. The lads were speaking in the changing rooms about how they got behind them at certain moments and lifted them and I think that’s when we’re playing with the right level of commitment, it’s when the fans get behind us like they did tonight and hopefully it was worth them braving the elements.”

On the performance as a whole, the Warriors Head Coach said: “I’m pleased to get the win against a strong Leeds side. I thought the performance was a positive one, again we showed improvements from last week. We had to do it tough defensively at times, there are still loads of improvements in us but it was nice to see the lads moving the ball, expressing themselves and playing with some freedom and doing the hard work. It was nice to post some points.”

Jai Field was on top form for Wigan with a hat-trick of tries and two goals, but also made a crucial tackle at 6-0 down, as Peet explains: “That one tackle from Jai, I wondered what he was doing at first I thought he was backing off but it was really smart full-back play, showing him to the sideline and Tindall is an athlete so it was a quality tackle. Of all the plays Jai made this evening I think that was the most important one.”

😄 It’s good to be back home 🏡🙌#WWRL pic.twitter.com/oBTD9L5cEO

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) February 19, 2022

Peet also had high praise for John Bateman and Liam Farrel, amongst others: “I thought there were a few key actions from John and Liam which brought us back into the game. They consistently troubled Leeds through the middle with their energy and their tenacity and they both defended very strong as well. They might not get the man of the match awards and key praise tonight but I thought they were fundamental to what we did.”

As the Warriors made it two from two in the Betfred Super League, the Warriors boss doesn’t want to get ahead of himself as they prepare for a short turnaround to play Huddersfield Giants next Thursday night: “I’m well aware that it’s not going to be plain sailing, myself or the group won’t be getting ahead of ourselves. We’ll continue to work hard through the pleasant evenings like tonight and the tough ones, it’s important that we stay consistent.

“We recover tomorrow and then we go to work on Monday and look at lessons we can learn. We might only get one field session but it’s important that it’s a quality one. We know that Huddersfield are a very challenging team, with strong ball carriers, strong systems and they’re going to come here and take that as a scalp that they can take. They’ll be equally challenging games as the last two.”

Matt Peet also spoke to Wigan TV following the win over Leeds. Watch the interview HERE.