Wigan Warriors: Matty Peet discusses the changes he made to his side for the derby game against St Helens

Matty Peet made a number of alterations to Wigan Warriors’ starting 13 for the game against St Helens at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Iain Thornley and Brad O’Neill came into the side, with Toby King and Sam Powell both dropping out.

Peet states he made the changes due to players underperforming in recent weeks.

“It wasn’t injury,” he explained.

Matty Peetplaceholder image
Matty Peet

“I’ve just been disappointed with the way they’ve been playing.

“I thought Brad O’Neill made a good fist of it, so I’m pleased with him.

“There’s players waiting to play when lads underperform and that’s what those two decisions were about.”

After playing in the halves last week against Catalans Dragons last week, Jai Field returned to fullback, as he swapped positions with Bevan French.

Peet accepts the number of changes in personnel alongside Harry Smith has had an impact on Wigan’s fluency in recent games.

“I’m sure it is (having an effect),” he added.

“There were times when you could see that we weren’t cohesive, but the fact is we’ve had injuries to Cade (Cust) and Jai.

“Hopefully we will settle down on the spine.

“Changing that and our forward pack doesn’t contribute to flowing rugby, so we need to settle on a team now and work hard.”

Despite the changes, Wigan suffered their fourth defeat in their last five Super League games, as St Helens claimed a 34-16 victory in the derby.

Jack Welsby and Tommy Makinson both went over for braces in a convincing win for Paul Wellens’ side.

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