Matt Peet delivers Wigan Warriors verdict after Wakefield Trinity rout with backline praised

Wigan Warriors coach Matt Peet was proud of his side’s performance after they produced a clinical display to defeat Wakefield Trinity 48-10 at the DIY Kitchens Stadium on Friday night.

The Warriors continued their impressive run of form with another dominant victory, as Liam Farrell scored twice on his 450th career appearance, while Noah Hodkinson grabbed four tries. Ollie Partington, Jake Wardle and Zach Eckersley also crossed as Wigan climbed to fourth in the Super League table.

Despite the emphatic nature of the result, Peet was keen to acknowledge that Wakefield were without a number of key players, particularly in their backline, with Josh Rourke, Oliver Pratt, Corey Hall and Mason Lino sidelined through injury, while Jazz Tevaga served a suspension.

Nevertheless, the Wigan boss was delighted with how his team approached the contest.

“Proud of the performance,” said Peet. “I think the result is an important one for us, recognising that Wakefield were missing a few players, particularly in the backline, but we still had to get the start of the game right.

“They’ve got formidable players and another group of formidable players on the bench, so it was important that we dealt with that, and then our backs could showcase what they could do.

“We don’t get too carried away, but I’m certainly proud of the performance, and we got the chance to play some good stuff, but some of that is probably owing to Wakefield having a few personnel missing or playing out of position, so it’s important to recognise it.”

Peet felt the foundations for the victory were laid during the opening stages, with Wigan overcoming a challenging start before eventually pulling away from their hosts.

Wakefield matched the Warriors for large periods of the first half and were level at 6-6 before Wigan scored three tries in the final 12 minutes before the break to seize control.

For Peet, ensuring his side handled Wakefield’s early energy and physicality was the key factor behind the win.

“A bit like I said last week - the starts of these games, if you don’t get them right, teams like Wakefield, they’ve still got some quality players there and a very powerful forward pack,” he explained.

“If we hadn’t dealt with that well, then the crowd are up and it would be a very different night.

“So it was important that we got the foundation of our game in place and after that we managed to express ourselves. Some of the tries will look pretty and flamboyant, but it’s built off getting that start right.”

Wigan’s outside backs were particularly impressive, with Wardle, Eckersley and four-try winger Hodkinson all catching the eye.

Peet reserved special praise for his backline, highlighting the form of England centre Wardle and the continued development of Eckersley.

“They were to a man,” said Peet.

“I thought Jake Wardle was very, very good. Zach’s playing really well at the moment, we’ve got some speed and skill, and when Wakefield have got their first-choice backline out, so do they, so we did some good things.”

The win at Wakefield backed up Wigan’s recent wins over Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final and Catalans Dragons in Paris, extending a rich run of form as they head into the second half of the Super League campaign.