Matt Peet delivers verdict on Wigan Warriors' Paris win with ‘big game mentality’ hailed

Matt Peet praised Wigan Warriors’ professionalism after they followed up last weekend’s Challenge Cup final success with an impressive 40-16 victory over Catalans Dragons in Paris.

Just seven days after dismantling Hull KR at Wembley, the Warriors produced another polished display at Stade Jean-Bouin in a game that marked Catalans’ 20th anniversary in Super League and the competition’s 30th year.

Wigan laid the foundations for victory with an outstanding first-half display, racing into a 30-6 lead at the break before comfortably seeing out the contest in the French capital.

Peet admitted he would have accepted any victory against a Catalans side playing under new coach John Cartwright, but was delighted with the manner of the performance.

“It was pleasing,” Peet told Wigan Today.

“We knew we had a tough challenge on our hands coming into this game and it was obviously a big celebration for Catalans, they’ve got a new coach and we knew we had a challenge ahead of us, so we’d have taken any sort of victory, but to win in the manner we did, I think it’s testament to all the hard work we did at the start of the game.”

Wigan completed every one of their sets during the opening 40 minutes, and Peet felt that fast start was crucial in preventing any potential Challenge Cup hangover.

The Warriors coach, who won his eighth trophy in charge of his hometown club last weekend, revealed there had been discussion internally about the importance of matching Catalans’ physicality in the opening stages.

“I think we knew any team that is coming out of a Challenge Cup final, the opposition is going to target the start of the game and try to be a bit more energetic and more physical, so we spoke about that and acknowledged that,” he said.

“I thought our performance at the start of the game got the job done.

“We just knew if we didn’t get the start right, that Catalans would be prioritising that. It’s something in most games, you want to start well and start with that energy about you, and I thought we did that.

“We’re well aware they have players like Charlie Staines and Matty Russell that, if our start was a bit off and our kick chase at the ends of sets was off, then they could punish us because they’ve got a lot of talent, particularly in the backline.”

The trip to Paris came at the end of a hectic week for the Challenge Cup winners, who had little time to celebrate before turning their attention back to Super League matters.

After lifting the trophy at Wembley the previous Saturday, Wigan travelled to France on Thursday before securing another valuable two competition points.

Peet admitted it had been a busy period but was impressed by how his players handled the challenge.

“I must admit it did feel quite hectic earlier in the week,” he said. “You get home, and it feels like you don’t have much time to unpack your bag and then you’re packing it again, but since we’ve got together, the lads were excellent in training.

“We’ve not done a lot of training but when we have we’ve been very focused and very determined to follow up on last week, and then once we travelled over and were in the hotel, I could see the lads had a big game mentality again.”

The victory continued an impressive run of form for Wigan, who have now recorded notable wins against St Helens, Leeds Rhinos, Hull KR and Catalans in recent weeks.

However, despite the growing momentum, Peet insists his side will not get carried away.

“There’s no doubt we have some momentum but we’re very aware that you’re as good as your last performance and you start working on your next one,” he said.

“And that momentum can shift as you go through the year as it can within a game, so it’s just about coming out of this game in the right manner now and concentrating on a good week’s preparation.”