Peet: Take immense pride
- Matt Peet felt ‘proud’ as Wigan came from behind to score 32 unanswered points and take the win against Warrington on Friday night.
- Peet: “We’ve got to always make sure that we compete, everything else will take care of itself.”
- FT | Wigan Warriors 32-6 Warrington Wolves.
Matt Peet said he can ‘take immense pride’ as Wigan stuck together to overturn a 6-0 deficit to score 32 unanswered points and reclaim the Locker Cup.
At full time, he said: “It’ll be interesting when I watch it back because in my gut at the moment I feel like I’m really proud, one of the most proud I’ve been all year. I felt like we beat a determined team with loads of good players but I thought our effort and desire when things didn’t go quite our way, when Warrington got in space [was pleasing] – I can’t wait to watch the footage back of us scrambling back, chasing and diving on loose balls.
“It’s that togetherness and commitment that the lads have to one another that makes you feel good and that’s what I take immense pride in and the lads should be really proud of themselves.”
Peet praised the togetherness of his team in the victory: “The lads looked like they had each others backs and like they stuck to the process and plan which they designed. They’ve got freedom to come up with a plan in the week and all we ask as staff is when they say they’re going to do something, they commit to it and they did that so I can’t ask anything more than that.
“We have enough good players that when we compete as hard as we did tonight, they’ll be in the game. We’ve got to always make sure that we compete, everything else will take care of itself.”
The Head Coach also spoke about Liam Marshall, who scored a second half hat-trick in the win: “Effort, endeavour, commitment to the group, his kick chases – you get tries if you keep doing that enough. If you combine talent with hard work things go your way and I think Marshy is in the form where he’s working that hard off the ball, he’s getting on the end of things. Some of his chase back efforts and kick chases were outstanding.”
Warrington did get the opening score on the night, but Peet insists his team didn’t dwell on the early set back: “Them scoring doesn’t really concern us that much, it was a well-worked try and a well executed kick. What is important is our reaction to it and I thought it was a positive one. There were moments in that game where you look back on it, and it was in the balance and the team that wanted it most was going to come out on top.”
Finally, Peet was asked whether the win gives Wigan momentum going into the final stages of the season: “We showed that we’re developing as a team tonight, that’s how I felt personally and it was a big step for us. We’ve got follow it up, you don’t want to be one step forward and two back but I felt a lot of satisfaction with that performance. I might watch it back and I might think it’s not that good, it’s just my instincts.
“It builds momentum but what we know is that can soon be halted if we don’t perform and train well this week. If we don’t go to Wakefield and build on the performance, that momentum can soon slow down so this is a step in the right direction, but momentum needs to progress.”
