Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet 'very proud' after League Leaders' Shield triumph - 'Mark of consistency'

Matt Peet says he is ‘very proud’ of Wigan Warriors after they secured the League Leaders’ Shield with a 50-12 win over Catalans Dragons.

Wigan finished top of the Super League table after an impressive second half of the regular season, with Friday night’s victory confirming their third League Leaders’ Shield under Peet.

The Warriors have also lifted the Challenge Cup this year and will now turn their attention towards the play-offs as they look to add further silverware to their collection.

Peet believes the League Leaders’ Shield is a reflection of the strength and consistency within his squad and the wider club.

“I think it’s very obvious with the League Leaders’ (Shield) that the team who wins it always values it really highly, and the other teams have got the opportunity to move on really quickly,” Peet reacted.

“But I’m still very proud - it’s a mark of consistency which, to be consistent, a lot of things have to be in place, like the academy.

“The performances of the young players in certain periods of the year have put us in this position, and we’ll continue to draw on them. We’ll probably need some of them in the semi-final or final, so I think it’s a good mark of a club’s strength in depth, which is often credit to your good strength and conditioning programme, good physios, and a good academy.

“We know there are big challenges ahead, but we won’t brush over the achievement here.”

Wigan endured a difficult period in the opening quarter of the Super League campaign, losing four league matches in a row, with a hard-fought win over Wakefield Trinity in the Challenge Cup in-between those four losses.

However, their form changed dramatically following their Challenge Cup victory at Wembley in May, with the Warriors remaining unbeaten since the middle of that month.

Peet believes the early-season rough patch was not as significant as they have sometimes been portrayed, while pointing to the contribution of young players such as Jack Farrimond during that period.

“There are games in there that we nearly lost,” he continued. “We nearly lost at Hull FC, we had a tough game at Huddersfield, so you can lose games.

“I’ve said this many times, but Huddersfield and Castleford came down here and beat us. They played very well and we had a few injuries and some of the young players, it takes them a while to find their feet and get used to it and build into the season, so you can’t just throw them in from Round One.

“I get asked about that period a lot, I don’t think it was that big of a deal. The fact we won the Cup game in the middle of it gets overlooked as well. It was a big win away at Wakefield in the Cup, and Jack was just bedding into the team.

“I like those periods, it’s probably where, as coaches, you earn your money.”

Despite the convincing scoreline against Catalans, Peet felt the visitors provided Wigan with a useful test ahead of the knockout stages.

“I thought it was a good win,” he added. “I thought Catalans competed well, they showed a lot of spirit and physicality.

“There were elements of their performance where they were very good and played with a lot of pride and troubled us, so I thought, despite the scoreline, it was a pretty good challenge for us and will stand us in good stead.”

Peet also took the opportunity to manage his squad during the second half, with Jai Field replaced on the hour mark before Bevan French was also withdrawn towards the end.

“Yeah I just thought I’d take the opportunity while it was there - you don’t want to regret not making it,” he said. “We were in a comfortable spot and we got Bev off towards the end as well.”