Wigan Warriors coach facing 'almighty challenge' ahead

Wigan were rocked in Round One as neighbours Leigh Leopards recorded a 1-0 golden-point victory at the Brick Community Stadium.

Hull also ruined a few betting coupons with a surprise 24-4 success over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan, to give new coach John Cartwright a winning start to his reign.

Throw in Wigan's poor record when travelling over to face both Hull clubs, and it makes for a fascinating clash on Humberside.

"We know what to expect," said Peet. "There'll be a great atmosphere, a really passionate ground, and a committed group of players, who are optimistic.

"I think we saw that on the whole across all the rounds last weekend, everyone is really committed and passionate, with plenty of enthusiasm.

"I was particularly impressed by Hull's competitive nature and their commitment to defend and fight against Catalans. John will be extremely proud of that as a starting point, I know I would have been.

"There's been an overhaul there, it's a fresh start - not just with it being a new season but under new ownership.

"John has put his own stamp on the team, he's recruited very well and they got a good result last week so confidence and optimism will be high.

"We're going to face an almighty challenge this weekend."

Peet is not looking into the poor run of results in Hull too much either.

"The journey brings its own challenge, and every time you go you're facing a different team," he said. "But we have got a responsibility to nail our preparation both individually and as a team.

"Obviously (the record) is something we're aware of, but a few of those games have been very close, with individual reasons why we didn't get the job done. You just have to give credit to good performances from Hull KR and Hull teams in the games against us."

The Warriors chief was also asked his general thoughts on the opening weekend of Super League, which was generally well received among supporters of all clubs and in the media.

"I thought it was a great sign for Super League," he said. "I wouldn't say I was surprised, but I think it's been a very good start, and it shows how much hard work's been done during the off-season, both in terms of recruitment and in the practice fields and the gyms.

"Ball in play was up across the whole competition, but I think ours was the highest we've seen. In some metrics, the game was very, very intense, and I think it's a good starting point for us and also the competition."

Looking back on his own team's narrow loss to Leigh, Peet added: "I said after the game that there'll always be parts of the game we want to execute better and improve.

"But my gut feeling after the game was one of immense pride in the players in terms of commitment and endeavour, and that hasn't changed. I think it would be foolish to start unpicking every single play and be saying we could have, we should have done this or that. All we can do is build on it hopefully."