Peet: Attitude and intent
- Matt Peet spoke to the press following Wigan Warriors’ victory against Huddersfield Giants at The Brick Community Stadium
- Peet: “We’re confident that if we get the basics right in our game, we’ve got that ability to post points and defend well.”
- FT | Wigan Warriors 28-14 Huddersfield Giants
Matt Peet Spoke to the press following Wigan Warriors’ victory against Huddersfield Giants at The Brick Community Stadium in Round 20 of Betfred Super League action.
Despite going into the break 8-0 down, the Warriors scored four tries in the second half to secure victory at The Brick Community Stadium, with Adam Keighran converting every try and adding two penalty goals to the total.
Happy with his side’s response to come from behind, Peet said: “I thought attitude and intent was pretty good throughout the whole game, but we made some poor errors in the first half which meant we couldn’t really get our game going.
“In the second half we probably simplified things a little bit, got to the end of our sets and managed to play some decent stuff.”
He added: “We’re confident that if we get the basics right in our game, we’ve got that ability to post points and we can defend well – normally our effort, energy and desire are where they need to be. I think the obvious fix watching the first half was to tighten the ball up a little bit, find a bit of fluency and cohesion – and that only comes from knocking a few sets out, making a few simple plays and then the game opens up for you.”
The Warriors welcomed back Jai Field for the first time in six games, as he scored a sensational second-half solo try on his return to the side from injury. Kruise Leeming also returned for the Cherry and Whites, with both players playing around an hour before pre-planned substitutions.
On having more key players back at his disposal, Peet said: “I think Jai can be pleased with his first hit out for a while, Kruise as well – he got big minutes under his belt and was flying.
“There’s some big moments in that game by a few individuals who, when you’re not fluent with the ball, sometimes you rely on a bit of individual brilliance, and Jai brought a bit, Jake Wardle brought a bit, I thought Junior (Nsemba) was excellent.”
As alluded to by Peet, Wardle came up with a big moment of his own, going the full-length of the field to score against the run of play early in the second half.
“It’s a big moment when he breaks down the field from that kick, we were under all sorts of pressure behind on the scoreboard”, said Peet. “It swung the game on a sixpence, so that’s not missed on me that that’s a moment of individual brilliance and that’s why we’re glad he plays for us.”
Looking ahead to a quick turnaround for Tuesday night’s game against Leigh Leopards, Peet said: “I think recovery’s going to be critical in getting your mindset right for the game. A little bit of practice, little bit of footage, but I think it will be very much about us. When we’re looking for that fluency with the ball it’s important we concentrate on our own game rather than too much about the opposition.
“Obviously, we’ll have to look a little bit at what Leigh are about but we know them really well – they’re an excellent team, they’ve got some obvious key individuals and they play a fantastic brand.”
