Wigan Warriors have plenty of stars but their breakout player in 2024 has been Junior Nsemba and Matt Peet has revealed how they’ve nurtured the youngster.
Nsemba was one of several Wigan players to put in a brilliant performance as the Warriors put Leigh to the sword and defeated them 38-0 to progress to the Grand Final, leaving Peet as one of many to praise the second-rower’s performance.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the victory, Peet explained: “He’s a bit like Bevan (French), you can have all the coaching you want in the world but you’ve got X factor and athleticism. It’s a privilege to work with him. I thought he was outstanding tonight.”
Nsemba and his second-row partner, Sam Walters, led the tackle count for Wigan Warriors as they both made 29 but it was the 125 metres from 15 carries that set the 20-year-old apart. Only Abbas Miski would make more metres and a large chunk of the Lebanese winger’s run metres came from a break in the first-half.
As for Nsemba, his metres were the hard yards in the middle of the pitch as evidenced by his match-leading nine tackle busts in what was the latest of a string of incredible performances.
‘A special young player’ – Nsemba reaps the plaudits from Peet
Those performances have not gone unnoticed with the Wigan Warriors man named to Shaun Wane’s squad to face Samoa as well as the Super League Dream Team.
He looks a cert to be named the Young Player of the Year and such an impressive season has earned him a six-year contract, tying him to the club until 2030.
Expanding on just how good Nsemba has been, Matt Peet explained: “It’s nothing we can take credit for, he’s just a special young player and a special young man.
“It’s a bit like with Bevan, I think the best thing we can do with these players is encourage them to be themselves and just guide them along the way. He’s from a good family and I just like working with him.”
How Wigan Warriors have ‘navigated’ Junior Nsemba to the Super League elite
With Wigan boasting such a large and deep squad, Nsemba didn’t look to feature as a mainstay in the starting 13 but he has made the left-hand second-row spot his own this season.
Another man who broke into the Wigan team as a youngster was Sam Tomkins and he asked Matt Peet if the 20-year-old Nsemba had been assigned any more responsibilities as a result of it.
To that, Peet explained: “It’s a good question. I think where we navigate him mainly is with his stuff away from the game day to make sure he doesn’t start overthinking when other players start talking about the detail and the technical things that they want to, not let that confuse him.
“Keep his job really simple and encourage him to be himself so yeah it’s a new one for me working with such a talent so I’m going to take a lot of pride in it and try and help him the best I can.
“He’s from a good family as I mentioned and when one of them lands on your lap coming through your system, it’s important you look after them.”
As referenced, Nsemba will almost certainly be crowned Super League’s Young Player of the Year on Tuesday night before lining up against Hull KR in the Grand Final on Saturday at Old Trafford.