Wigan Warriors boss highlights areas of improvement with building blocks taken from Hull KR defeat
Wigan Warriors coach Matt Peet wants to see more of the same from a defensive point of view against Wakefield Trinity, but has warned that his side’s skill and execution with the ball must be better following on from their defeat to Hull KR.
The reigning champions went down to a narrow 10-6 defeat to league leaders Hull KR last Friday night. It was a mixed performance from the Warriors, who displayed just how strong and robust their defence can be, but they came up short with the ball in hand, producing uncharacteristic errors like knock-ons and forward passes.
"There was a disappointment with the result, with elements of the performance, and there were a few things in there that we can take pride in and look to build on,” Peet reflected.
"But it’s not good enough to just say ‘if only we hadn’t done this, if only we hadn’t done that’. The fact is, we made certain mistakes, but credit to Hull KR for forcing that out of us, and we need to be better.
"But Hull KR could say they could have made fewer errors as well, so I don’t feel that it was particularly more positive. I wouldn’t even class it as negative; it was areas of improvement that were highlighted, and that’s how we’ll look at it. It’s taught us a few things, reminded us of a few things, and we’ve got to work hard to improve our execution.
"The positives were that having been on the backfoot for quite a large part of the game, particularly the first half, I thought we stuck at it, we covered, we scrambled, we were desperate and then in the second half we were a little bit better without being much better, so we’ll bottle up some of our defence and look to build on it, but we’ve got to be much better with the ball.”
Next up for Wigan is a clash with Wakefield on Sunday afternoon at the Brick Community Stadium, with Daryl Powell’s side looking to secure a place in the top six for the end-of-season play-offs at the first time of asking since their promotion back to Super League.
Peet knows it is going to be a tough battle this weekend, whilst highlighting the improvement areas for his side.
"I just think there are a few things performance-wise which we need to replicate and build on, certainly in terms of our commitment to defend, scramble for each other and working hard,” Peet continued.
"Then there are areas where we are some distance away from where we want to be, particularly with the ball, so we need to improve there as well, so not too much different to when we’ve won, to be honest.
"I think we need to see the same desperation in defence, attitude and commitment to the team, it has to be the minimum standard, and then build on that, if we can improve some of our skill with the ball, that comes through getting the basics right and knowing your role, then I think we should see an improved performance."