Wigan Warriors boss delivers Christian Wade debut verdict: 'Amazing what he's just done...'

The former British and Irish Lions representative kicked off his senior Wigan career with a try-scoring debut in the Warriors’ 30-10 win over Huddersfield in the Sir Billy Boston tribute game on Friday evening.

The Warriors were 10-0 behind at the break, but scored five unanswered converted tries in the second half to complete an impressive second half comeback.

It would be fair to say Wade had a mixed Super League debut, failing to collect a couple of high balls, whilst making an error at the play-the-ball in the first half.

But in the second half, Wade and his Wigan teammates fought their way back into the game and turned it around, with the 34-year-old winger scoring in the 49th minute thanks to a fine passing move straight from the scrum.

Wade then played a part in Wigan’s second try as he patted back a bomb from Liam Farrell, with Jake Wardle eventually scoring following a pinpoint cross-field kick from Harry Smith.

Speaking post-match, Peet delivered astounding praise to Wade, who showed glimpses of what he is capable of.

"It’s amazing what he’s just done, like absolutely amazing,” said Peet.

"To play two reserve games, be with the club for four or five weeks, to play at the highest level in the country, in a game where everyone knows he’s inexperienced, Huddersfield would have been talking about it and targeting it, and rightly so, we’d do the same.

"A couple of errors in there and a couple of fix-ups, but you can see his ability.

"I don’t know how many carries he had, but the big thing about when you make an error and the mark of a champion is that you continue competing and turning up for the ball.

"I’m really proud of him, but I was before tonight, the way he’s applied himself and joined into the ethos of the club has been remarkable."

Wade got his chance to debut in the absence of first-choice wingers Abbas Miski and Liam Marshall, who were both rested, given they played through the pain barrier in last week’s defeat to Leigh Leopards. Academy product Jacob Douglas also returned.

"I thought he was as ready as he was ever going to be,” Peet continued on Wade. “I knew whenever we put him in, it would be an element of the fear of the unknown, but I’m comfortable with that as a coach.

"I think you have similar things when you put a young lad in who has never played first-grade, and I’d like to think that I’m willing to take risks with my selection, and the club is willing to take risks.

"We didn’t recruit him not to play, you know, so there’s no doubt bangs and bruises sometimes force your hand, but we could’ve shuffled around, we had options like Faz (Liam Farrell) in the centres and whatnot, and pushed people out, but we’ve loved what we’ve seen in training from Christian and if you don’t give them a go at some point, you never find out, it’s the same with young players and 34-year-old superstars as well.”