Wigan Warriors: 200 players from the club's 11 teams come together to train as one at Robin Park Arena
and live on Freeview channel 276
For the first time ever, the First Team, Reserves, Academy, Scholarship, Women, Women’s Academy, Physical Disability Rugby League, Learning Disability Rugby League, Wheelchair, Touch and College sides all came together.
They were split into 12 groups, which featured at least one player from every team, with sessions including offside touch, skill games and drills, passing, tag, wheelchair, yoga, and strength and conditioning.
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Hide AdWigan’s executive director Kris Radlinski said: “We are trying to build a winning first team, but it is also important that we build a Club that people feel a part of.
“The session saw players of all abilities training with the biggest stars at the club, which is something that they will never forget.
“It was not just for players. Our junior coaches also got the opportunity to coach the first team. Seeing all the Club integrated as one was really important for us all. I can’t think of many more important, significant and humbling evenings in recent years.
“When I spoke to the coaches about doing the session, I said that the first team players will not get much out of it because of the varying skill levels but I now retract that comment.
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Hide Ad“The holistic benefit of the session was immeasurable, and I commend our senior players for the way they threw themselves wholeheartedly into the night.
“Seeing the likes of Bevan (French) and Tommy (Leuluai) laughing and enjoying themselves with the players from all the teams was awesome. I was so proud of the club and I would like to thank all the coaches and players for buying into the bigger picture.
“The night finished with a united circle of over 200 players and staff and an encore from Liam Marshall on the microphone. A perfect night.”
The sessions were led by the 40 coaches from the different teams throughout the club.
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Hide AdThis included first team head coach Matty Peet, who hopes this kind of event can become a regular occurrence.
He stated: “The club has 11 teams across a range of age groups, abilities and different skill sets so we’ve always planned to have an evening like this where we brought everyone together to train and meet each other.
“A lot of these people, although they all play for the club, don’t know each other so it was an opportunity to break down a few barriers, not just for the players but for the staff and volunteers too.
“Everyone has got a lot to learn from one another. It’s about enjoying it, supporting one another and having some fun along the way. I hope we can grow this and do it more often.”
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Hide AdWomen’s head coach Kris Ratcliffe believes everyone at the club is part of one big community.
He said: “It was absolutely fantastic, and it looked like everyone had a smile on their face.
“Great credit to the club in putting this on and supporting all these teams by putting on one big fun session with the aim of being completely inclusive. There’s a real community feel about it.”