Wigan Warriors’ Matt Peet attributes SPOTY win to club’s humble roots

After Wigan Warriors were crowned Team of the Year at the Sports Personality of the Year awards, head coach Matt Peet has outlined the keys to success – arguing that the club’s humble hometown roots have shaped it into the leading organisation that it currently is.

Aside from their success on the field, Wigan Warriors are leading the way off the field and that’s evident in them topping the Super League attendance charts, boasting a women’s team that has broken into the top four of the sport, and also leading the way with their trip to Las Vegas in 2025.

If you’re looking for an example of a club who are doing things right then look no further than the Super League champions who could now have the fresh eyes of millions on them after their success at the Sports Personality of the Year awards.

Matt Peet’s speech was as humble as ever at the event and he’s now appeared on local radio to reflect on the success, telling BBC Radio Manchester that there was no time for celebration with the team in training at Robin Park this morning.

Asked if he had a sore head, Peet explained: “I was with a group of players who were in training nationally earlier this morning so it was quite reserved, but it was a fantastic occasion for everybody involved.”

It’s no surprise that the Warriors were straight back to the grind given that Wigan will kick off the Super League season in just under two months, taking on local rivals Leigh Leopards in a Battle of the Borough on February 13th.

World Club Challenge the highlight of Wigan’s incredible campaign

Considering that Wigan Warriors have won the last six available trophies with four of those coming in 2024, you’d expect that ‘pinch yourself’ moments are hard to come by for the leader of such serial winners but Peet confirmed they still exist, albeit his answer also pointed to why Wigan are so successful

He explained: “Yeah, there are plenty of them and last night was one of them. I mean it is quite surreal, but at the end of it you go home, you let the dog out and you get up in the morning and go back to work,” as exemplified by the fact Wigan were back at Robin Park this morning.

More important than the personal element of winning was what it did for the region’s aspiring athletes he argued, stating: “So it is nice to get the recognition because it’s a chance for a lot of people to feel a sense of pride who do make those commitments. And also to see Keely (Hodgkinson – SPOTY winner) and our players – for young people growing up in the North West battling away in sport, it gives them that inspiration and pathway to success.”

In a season of highs, Peet was asked to pinpoint the highlight and it was one that came ten months ago.

“I think the World Club Challenge, the Penrith game because we knew it was a unique opportunity,” he said.

“You have to have had a successful season the year before to even earn an opportunity and then, as we’ve seen this year, it doesn’t always happen. So it is kind of a maybe once-in-a-generation chance you get to play on your home ground against such a fantastic organisation as Penrith.

“Kris Radlinski, our CEO, made a real event and a festival of it throughout the town, throughout the borough, and the energy through the club and through the town that week was electric. To then win was a crowning moment.

“That would be the one, just because I feel like it was pretty unique and a lot had to come into line for us to get that success.”

Wigan Warriors’ success founded on humble roots claims Peet

The connection between the team and the fans at Wigan has been something extraordinary to witness under Matt Peet with the club becoming incredibly close-knit and integrated into the community during his tenure, something which he attributes a lot of the success to.

On the ‘grassroots’ elements of the club, Peet explained: “I generally think that’s what the best sporting organisations are – they’re connected to the people they represent. They have something more important than just winning the games.

“I must say, it comes from the top of this club with Mike Danson our owner. It’s the main thing that he questions about, how much more can we do for the people of the town and I think it’s very much a rugby league trademark.”

He added: “We get spoken about for being working class and for being humble. Sometimes there’s a negative, but I generally think it’s a positive that these clubs are well and truly rooted in the towns that they stand for, the cities that they stand for.

“In sport, sometimes, with the amount of money that’s involved, it’s a bit detached when you see it, but I think our players and people like Keely, who you’ll see training down here on an evening amongst hundreds of school children and aspiring athletes. It’s the same for our lads and I really do think it is a big reason for the success of the Borough.”

Whilst that local connection has propelled the men’s team, the development of the women’s team has boosted the organisation even further Peet argued as he cited the rising attendances at the Brick Community Stadium.

“I think the women’s game is booming and is driving the success,” the Warriors head coach claimed.

“I think it’s one of the reasons our attendance has risen in recent years because, with the success and growth of the women’s game in the community, there are just so many more families engaged in the sport. So that’s fantastic for the young girls of the town and of the Northwest.”

He would conclude by contrasting the humble grassroots element of what makes Wigan Warriors so special with the fact that they’re breaking new ground and leading the sport in terms of ventures such as taking the sport stateside, something that highlights the brilliant balance of success at the club.

“On Las Vegas, I think when you talk about grassroots and community, it can sometimes sound like you’re not ambitious yet it’s quite the opposite. We want to get both ends of the spectrum right. We want to keep our roots and we want to stand for the people of the town but also we want to break new ground and we want to lead the way and we want to be involved in massive occasions like Las Vegas.”