
Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet has outlined the plans and ‘next stage’ for the club’s one signing ahead of the 2025 season.
Having won every piece of silverware that was available for them to win, Wigan’s squad building was understandably more focused on retention than recruitment and as a result, they made just one signing.
That man was forward George Hirst from League One champions Oldham with the 23-year-old signing for Wigan Warriors back in October, prior to even lifting the 2024 Super League title.
Hirst signed on a two-year deal with Wigan having an option to extend that further, whilst Oldham revealed that the forward would train with the Warriors in pre-season before “likely” returning to Boundary Park on loan during the 2025 season.
Matt Peet has now given a joint interview with Oldham’s head coach Sean Long on the Championship side’s YouTube channel in which he discussed Hirst and the ‘next stage’ for the forward.
Wigan Warriors signing’s 2025 plan laid out

Credit: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Wigan play their first game of the pre-season against Oldham on Sunday with Hirst expected to line up for his new club against his old side.
Speaking on how Wigan came to sign the 23-year-old, Matt Peet said: “George Hirst has been very good, I first started keeping an eye on him after speaking to Sean and he said how well he was doing and our scouts in the Championship were reporting on him every other week as well.
“He joined and has been exactly what we hoped for. He’s a physical specimen and he’s eager to learn. I look forward to seeing him play at the weekend and he’s excited about it.”
Oldham have built a very capable Championship squad that features plenty of former Super League players, particularly in the pack, but Peet confirmed that Wigan would allow their recruit to start the season with the Roughyeds as initially planned.
Peet revealed: “He’ll start the season with Oldham and then we can monitor him from there but you can see he has had some good habits put into him in terms of the way he works both sides of the ball, his attitude is really good.
“Now the next stage is that he steps into it with us and still plays for Oldham when the time is right.”
It would suggest that Hirst’s time with Oldham will likely fall under the dual registration agreement as opposed to an official loan that has more strict and stringent rules around being recalled and training.
Peet had also confirmed that stars such as Kruise Leeming, Tyler Dupree and Liam Byrne will all feature in Sunday’s friendly against Oldham although he did concede that the backs would be less experienced.
