Wigan Warriors boss on Jai Field's 'big moment' and Adam Keighran return plan

Matt Peet hailed Jai Field’s spectacular try before half-time as a defining moment in Wigan Warriors’ 20-8 victory over Leigh Leopards and confirmed Adam Keighran is expected to return for the trip to Bradford Bulls.

Keighran missed Friday night’s Battle of the Borough clash after suffering a minor groin injury in training, with Noah Hodkinson coming into the side on the wing and Zach Eckersley shifting into the centres.

The reshuffle proved no issue for Wigan, who recovered from an 8-0 deficit to claim victory, with Field’s stunning 95-metre effort just before the interval sparking the turnaround.

Peet admitted the try came at a vital stage after Leigh had enjoyed the better of the opening half.

“It was against the run of play, and we nearly got the breakaway from Jake Wardle, which got pulled back,” Peet said.

“We got that one, and it was a big moment. We have that capability to turn defence into attack very quickly, but it was against the run of play.

“Leigh had been the better team in the first half without us doing a great deal wrong - some of it was some errors on the back of Leigh’s really strong kicking game, and we didn’t really get our kicking game going in the first half either, so it’s fine margins, but it was a big moment.”

Peet revealed Keighran’s injury occurred during the final training session before the game.

“Adam got injured goal-kicking after our last session, the last kick of his, every team is going through it, so we just had to make the change yesterday (the day before the game),” he said.

The Warriors boss expects the Australian centre to miss Saturday’s home clash against Toulouse Olympique but return the following week.

“He’ll miss next week, and then he should be alright for the Bradford game,” Peet confirmed.

Peet also shared praise for Jake Wardle and Sam Walters after another strong defensive display.

“I thought Jake was very good,” he said.

“I thought the game was high-quality across the board, you could see different teams have parts of it and got in their flow, then a penalty and error just flipped the momentum, but I was really pleased with Jake’s performance. I thought Sam Walters as well in his second game back was good, so there was plenty to like.”