Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet has praised his side’s resilience and determination after scraping through to victory against Huddersfield Giants.
After a shock loss to the Giants earlier in the season, for 70 minutes Huddersfield were well within touching distance of the two points, but two late tries from hat-trick hero Zach Eckersley put the game out of the home side’s reach.
Just like in recent weeks, Wigan’s youngsters shone again, with the likes of Kian McDermott, Shea O’Connor and Taylor Kerr all having excellent games in the middle of the field.
The Warriors took a 10-4 lead into the break thanks to tries from Eckersley and Oli Partington, before an Adam Keighran penalty goal gave them a 12-10 lead with 20 to go.
From then on, their defence was too strong for the Huddersfield attack, and some exceptional game management from Harry Smith allowed Eckersley in for his second and third of the evening.
Assessing the win, Peet said to Sky Sports: “We had to [dig deep]. I thought Huddersfield were excellent. A very tough performance from them. [It] forced us into doing some things that we didn’t want to do.
“We came up with some uncharacteristic players, uncharacteristic moments. We looked a little bit disjointed at times, but those are the wins that you’ve got to take and move on and not dwell too much on the technical side of it.
“[You] just double down on the grit and determination and the lessons that some of the young players and some of the senior players will take out of them because we were a little bit below standard.”
As mentioned, the youngsters again deserve plenty of praise, but this evening it was the senior boys who stepped up to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
A win like that does a lot more for confidence and learning that a blowout score, which is what many expected to happen before a ball was kicked.
Peet was asked what he will take from that game, and whether a win in that fashion is more meaningful than a comfortable two points.
He replied: “We could have lost that. 100% we could have lost it, and there were those moments where I thought we might have.
“To have that resolve, to know you can go to that place and find a way, it builds confidence, and also you hope that we’ll be better.
“We’ll know that we can’t do that every week. If we do that next week and the week after, we’ll come unstuck. So, [it was a] kick up the bum.”
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Wigan take on local rivals St Helens and Leigh Leopards in their next two, in games that Peet believes his side are well prepared for.
Prior to this evening’s game, the Warriors faced Saints and Warrington Wolves, both of which their side contained plenty of youngsters. Having had that experience, the boss is confident his team are ready for a challenging next fortnight.
“We’ve had two previous [big games] to today. That was part of the challenge, coming to a different kind of fixture, let’s say, a different kind of atmosphere [Accu Stadium], and particularly for our young players to still perform without the intensity of the atmosphere. It’s a new experience for them and one they need to learn from.”
Peet confirmed that the side will have “a few” players returning from injuy next week, one of whom could well be former Man of Steel Bevan French.
