Matt Peet explains bold decision to take star man off

Matt Peet’s Wigan Warriors side had enough tonight to get the win over Salford Red Devils thanks to a late rally but speaking after the game he wasn’t overly happy with the performance.

When asked by Sky Sports’ Jenna Brooks on whether his side executed his game plan, he said:

“Not particularly, no. I think we got the game won, we found a way to win.

“We can certainly improve with the ball. I think a combination of team spirit in defence and individual brilliance in attack won us that game.

“A lot of teams are built on that but there is a lot more to us than what you have seen tonight and when we start to flow in attack we will look like a decent side.

“I liked the way we front loaded our defence and again a resilient performance.”

When asked for his moment of the game he simply said it was the final whistle as he didn’t enjoy the performance:

“The final whistle. I didn’t enjoy the performance particularly. I love seeing the lads defend but we are doing it a bit too much at the moment.”

Things changed when Peet took off one of last year’s best signings in the shape of Cade Cust to move Bevan French to fullback and Jai Field into the halves.

Peet explained the decision: “We weren’t flowing in attack and we had to get the game won. There’s things you can practice and make improvements but sometimes you need to make the change when it needs to be made and I don’t think Cade was doing it, it wasn’t his night tonight.”

When asked if we could see more of French at fullback, he said:

“I think we are a better side when Bevan has the ball. But I like Jai at fullback, he is first class.”