Wigan Warriors ace Adam Keighran earns major praise amid standout form - ‘One of our players of the season’

In-form centre Adam Keighran has been one of the ‘players of the season’ for Wigan Warriors, according to his head coach Matt Peet.

The Australian scored a hat-trick and kicked six goals in Wigan’s 40-8 victory over Leeds Rhinos at AMT Headingley on Saturday evening, taking his tally to 19 tries and 126 goals in 28 appearances across all competitions this year.

Keighran has now racked up 328 points during an impressive campaign, with Peet admitting he has been among the Warriors’ leading performers throughout the season.

“I said it for probably the first half of the season that I thought he was our best player and other players have probably stepped up to his level now, but he has maintained a very high standard,” said Peet.

“He is one of our players of the season for me, no doubt. I’ve loved working with him.

“Genuine centres are quite rare, I think. There is so much put on the yardage carry these days that sometimes is prioritised, and Adam can do that, but he has also got the ability to create things and put his winger away.”

Keighran has also had an important role in helping a number of younger players around him this season, with injuries forcing Wigan to change their combinations throughout the course of the campaign.

The 29-year-old has lined up alongside Zach Eckersley, Josh Cartwright, Dayon Sambou, Austin Daniel, Jack Farrimond and Bevan French at different points of the year.

“He has had some young players outside of him,” said Peet. “The season Zach (Eckersley) has had, Adam’s played a large part in that.

“We’ve had Josh Cartwright and Dayon (Sambou) on that wing, and then Austin at the weekend, and also when Jack Farrimond was playing on the inside of him as well, he didn’t have it all his own way for a period, so Adam has had to mentor and work with them and help them develop, so he’s been a delight.”

Keighran’s centre partner against Leeds was Eckersley, who moved from his usual position on the right wing following Jake Wardle’s calf injury.

The 22-year-old has played in the centres at first-team level previously and made a smooth transition to the left centre spot at the weekend, producing another strong performance in both attack and defence.

“He’s had a great season,” Peet said of Eckersley. “I thought it was a really capable performance from him - some real classy moments - but he did the tough stuff as well.

“A bit like Adam, Zach has had a really high level of consistency this year, and he has developed himself really well physically, but also it is his first year that he has been playing week in, week out, which brings a different challenge to your body as well, and obviously the mental challenge of staying at a high performance week after week.”