Wigan Warriors: Matty Peet admits he had some nerves before his first competitive game as head coach

His side beat Hull KR 24-10 at Craven Park, with Jack Bibby and Liam Marshall scoring two each, and Jai Field getting one.

Despite having an array of emotions prior to kick off, Peet admits it was a moment he embraced.

He said: “I had those natural nerves which I would expect. My mind was telling me everything was good, that we had practiced and were prepared, and not to worry about the result. But I did have butterflies.

“It was a great feeling. I suppose that’s why you’re involved with sport. It motivates me being outside of my comfort zone, and it did feel like that at times I must admit.

“I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it, from leaving my house to meeting the team.”

Peet was happy with how his side worked as a unit during the game against the Robins but admits there are also things to fix.

“You’ve got to score points to win games, and we’ve got to find different ways of challenging defences,” Peet acknowledged.

“It’s not a case of just trying to be exciting for the sake of it, it’s doing things that we think test defences and are difficult to contain.

“It’s good we got the right result because it builds confidence and momentum, giving people trust in the things you are trying to implement.

“I’m pleased with the amount of togetherness we saw in the group.

“We were well organised and when we gave ourselves opportunities, we showed glimpses.

“I think lack of accuracy in our defence meant we had to do more tackling than we should’ve.

“If you invite Hull KR into the game, they are very skilful and will challenge you, but I thought we showed a lot of resolve to keep them out most of the time.

“We can’t keep giving penalties away like that, we put ourselves under pressure and we handled it, but we could’ve got burnt, it only takes a bounce of the ball. I’m also quite disappointed we conceded two tries off kicks, it’s something we need to work on.”

Peet praised the performance of Jai Field (inset) at fullback and said there will be a tough decision for him to make when Bevan French is ready for match action again.

“It’ll be a great headache to have,” Peet added.

“We lost Iain (Thornley) early on, so we needed all hands on deck and the more people pushing at the door the better.

“I was really pleased for Jai, it wasn’t a surprise he was in the game and had moments because we’ve already seen glimpses of that in the pre-season matches and in practice.”

Peet was also pleased with Cade Cust’s Wigan debut, with the 23-year-old putting in an impressive display.

“ I thought he was busy, lively and competed well,” Peet said.

“He made some good kicks and was in the game, so that’s what we want from him.

“We want him to be a threat. For his first Super League hit out in an environment like this, I think it bodes well for the future.”

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