Wigan Warriors: Matty Peet discusses the importance of having a team built on work ethic

The Warriors head into the match at Craven Park on the back of a 30-10 victory over St Helens.

Peet expects his players to produce a similar type of performance in East Yorkshire.

He said: “We’re not relaxing, we still want to go out there and play well. We’ve got a lot of lads who have worked all season and deserve to play.

“They will have to come in and add something to this group, they’re not just getting a go.

“Playing St Helens prepared us for the type of games that are coming, in terms of the 80 minute nature of it.

“We got a lot of our goal line defence practice in, but any team who plays them goes through that because they put you in difficult positions and build pressure really well.

“You’ve got to be comfortable in those positions, because you’re not going to have a game where you dominate, but it doesn’t mean you can’t post points.

“You want a group that stands for something, who play for each other, play for their families, and play for the town.

“This town is built on work ethic, that’s what makes us proud.

“You can teach anyone set moves and plays, but when you get a group who throw their bodies on the line, that’s pure desire.”

The game got off to an intense start, with St Helens putting the Warriors under early pressure.

This resulted in a penalty after five minutes, with Jonny Lomax successfully converting to make it 2-0.

It wasn’t long until Wigan found a foothold in the game, as they went over for the first try of the evening.

Despite some last-ditch efforts to stop him, Bevan French was able to cross the line on the right side, continuing his fantastic scoring record.

The Warriors’ second try came just after the 20-minute mark.

Mike Cooper shifted the ball to Harry Smith, who broke through a gap in the St Helens line, before assisting Jai Field with a straightforward finish.

Down the other end, Peet’s side produced an excellent bit of defending, with Liam Marshall’s leg stopping Konrad Hurrell from grounding the ball.

Ahead of the break, Wigan extended their lead further, as Liam Farrell produced some magic to go over, sidestepping past multiple players and shrugging several challenges in the process.

After heading into half time with a 18-2 lead, the Warriors remained firm following the restart, while the visitors just couldn’t make the most of having good field position.

When they did get close to the line, someone in cherry and white was there to stop them.

Eventually, Kristian Woolf’s side were able to find a way through, as Joey Lussick powered over, but Ben Davies was unable to add the extras, hooking his kick off target.

For a long time Wigan had been defending well, but hadn’t really been able to get out of their own half.

When an opportunity finally came their way again in the 69th minute, they took it with both hands.

Marshall picked the ball up on the left side, and despite numerous efforts to tackle him, St Helens could not stop him from clambering over the line.

The visitors were able to pull another one back through Joe Batchelor, but it was not enough to halt a good night for the Warriors.

In the final seconds of the game, French rounded things off with his second of the evening to make it 30-10.

During the first half there was a moment where Jack Welsby knocked the ball on.

The reaction of Morgan Smithies and Harry Smith certainly got the fans cheering, as they rubbed the head of the Saints fullback, and didn’t hold back in showing their delight at forcing the error.

After the match, Matty Peet stated it was a step too far.

“I want the lads to defend with passion and intensity, but we felt the lads overstepped the mark in that instance,” he added.

“We’ve spoken about it, and they recognise that, because we want to play with respect for our opposition.”