Peet: Remain proud

• Matt Peet said he ‘remains proud’ of his side as he gave his post match thoughts following the Warriors Semi Final loss.
• “I’m really appreciative of everyone’s commitment and the buy-in that we’ve had this year.”
• FT | Wigan Warriors 8-20 Leeds Rhinos.

Matt Peet gave his thoughts as the Warriors’ season came to an end with a 20-8 Play-Off Semi Final loss against Leeds Rhinos on Friday night.

“I’m sad for the group.” he said at the full time hooter. “I’d have loved to have had another week with them preparing for another game but I remain really proud of the group. I love the players and staff to bits, it’s been a special year, I’m really appreciative of everyone’s commitment and the buy-in that we’ve had this year and I think Leeds deserve an enormous amount of credit for the way they played.”

Giving praise to their opponents, Peet said: “The way they defended their goal line in particular, I thought they showed great resilience. That’s a sign of their commitment to one another, commitment to the group so they can be really proud. There was a period at the start of the second half where they were better than us and the sending off probably left the game a bit beyond us.”

Despite the result, Peet remains happy with what the group have achieved in 2022: “Tonight is pure disappointment, we don’t shy away from it but we know we’ve done some good things off the field as much as on it. I think the players have managed to create a massive shift in the Club’s culture, the foundations are in place and what we do next is going to be what is critical.”

The evening marked Thomas Leuluai’s final game for the Club before he takes up his role as Assistant Coach in 2023. On Leuluai, Peet said: “My own sadness is that we don’t have another game to go into with Thomas but I think his career speaks for itself, tonight doesn’t change anything – his career has been a fairytale and one that him and his family should be really proud of. I’m privileged to have played a small part in it.”

Not the way he would have wanted to go out, but what a career this guy has had.

Tommy Leuluai. Legend. ❤️#WWRL pic.twitter.com/gayl5TUPxn

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) September 16, 2022

Finally, Peet gave an update on Bevan French who was forced to leave the field early in the second half: “He thought he was okay at half time but it wasn’t to be. We haven’t spoken much about it, he’s got plenty of time to recover now. He couldn’t continue the second half but he gave it his best shot.”