Peet: Happy with the result
- Matt Peet praised his young forwards as Wigan ran out 32-22 winners over Castleford Tigers on Thursday night.
- Peet: “I was feeling that this was a tricky fixture so in the end the win is the most important thing.”
- FT | Wigan Warriors 32-22 Castleford Tigers.
Peet praised his young forward pack as his side put in a good performance to return to winning ways on Thursday night.
Speaking after the game, Peet said: “I’m very happy with the result, it was important. I think it was a game where they were desperate to win, they’ve got quality, they had a bit of travel and there were changes to the team with bumps and bruises. Underneath, I was feeling that this was a tricky fixture so in the end the win is the most important thing.”
Peet did highlight that there were some elements of improvement from the game: “There were glimpses of what we’re capable of, I thought a few times our core skill let us down, we were a bit sloppy. Not just in errors but passes not being as quick or as accurate as we wanted them to be so there’s still improvement in us with the ball, I thought Jai has his moments of brilliance. I thought we had energy and physicality but at times our system was off.”
Questioned on changes to his starting line-up, Peet explained: “Jake (Bibby) has been ill, so he came out and Harry (Smith), we had a few players behind the scenes carrying knocks so Harry gave us a bit of cover through the spine. A few lads played hurt today and they deserve credit for that but I think in both teams you could sense that short turnaround – there was highs and lows in the energy levels of both teams.”
The Warriors boss was particularly pleased with the efforts of Oliver Partington: “I thought he was excellent, he looked like someone who’s really put his hand up to stay in the team. He missed a lot of pre-season with an ankle injury so the other forwards got first crack and he was waiting in the wings, training hard and soon as the two lads got suspensions – I knew he would come in and deliver, I thought he was fantastic.”
He added: “We’ve got a group of forwards here at the Club that we can nurture and bring through the right way, build a team around them but there’s things we need to improve from that game. Morgan was good and it was great to see Ethan out there as well. They’re a good bunch of lads, they work hard and when they don’t play it’s rarely down to lack of effort.”
Up next, the Warriors face Salford Red Devils in the Sixth Round of the Betfred Challenge Cup at the DW Stadium on Friday 25th March. Tickets go on sale for Season Ticket Holders on Friday 18th March, with tickets on general sale from 9:30am on Tuesday 22nd March.
