Wigan Warriors boss pays tribute to milestone man with standouts praised in Hull KR victory

Mago joined Wigan’s 100 club on Friday evening as they ended Hull KR’s unbeaten start to the season, winning 28-12 at Sewell Group Craven Park.

The Samoan powerhouse, who is currently in his fourth season with Peet’s side having arrived ahead of the 2022 campaign, has a reputation of being one of the competition’s leading impact players, having started from the bench in 96 out of his 100 appearances for Wigan to date.

“I’d probably single out Pati Mago,” Peet said when asked about players who stood out in their win at Hull KR.

“Just the fact that it was his 100th game, the lads love him, he had some telling contributions that probably are more to inspire the team, the fact they want to get on board with him and I thought he had some moments that lifted us a bit, Tyler (Dupree) the same, Brad O’Neill the same.

“Zach Eckersley is getting more game time, which gives more opportunity for him to learn.”

The Warriors trailed 12-6 at half-time but scored tries in the second half through Jake Wardle, Harry Smith, Jai Field and Abbas Miski to seal the two points in a rematch of last year’s Grand Final.

Asked if there is a psychological element to ending Hull KR’s winning start, Peet replied: “I really don’t think so. We’re well aware that the season ebbs and flows.

“If we’d have got beat today, I don’t think we’d be any less confident, we’d have learned some lessons, and I think they’ll be the same. They’ll look at the players they had out, and that really is the challenge of a Super League season, navigating the injuries, suspensions, dips in form, and they are on a similar journey to ourselves, but I feel like you’ve just got to roll with the punches.

“It’s a respectful (rivalry), they are a really good team. They’ve got quite a few Wiganers in there, they are a good club. Our reserves play tomorrow (Saturday), that will be competitive. Our scholarship play, that’s competitive.

“I think it (the rivalry) is born out of mutual respect, I think they’ve got four or five ex-Wiganers in there, we know we’re going to meet in big games, but we’ve got other rivals as well. Probably the more rivalries and little subplots are great for you guys (in the media), great for promoting the game which is only healthy.”