Wigan Warriors’ Matt Peet wins prestigious award after history making 2024 campaign

Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet has been awarded the Sports Journalists’ Association Committee Award following his outstanding 2024 season. The award is given to the best coach of the year across British sport and having led the Cherry and Whites to a quadruple, Peet is certainly a deserved winner.

Wigan started the year by beating Penrith Panthers to win the World Club Challenge at the Brick Community Stadium and they followed that up by seeing off Warrington Wolves in the Challenge Cup final in June.

The League Leaders’ Shield was wrapped up in September after losing just five games all season and they still had enough left in the tank to lift the Super League trophy at Old Trafford after edging out Hull KR. Indeed, it was a memorable year for everyone associated with Wigan and Peet’s accomplishments have now been recognised by the SJA.

“It makes me very proud,” Peet told Sky Sports after receiving the award. “I’m very grateful to be selected by the committee. I think it reflects really well on our organisation, our club and our players and I think it reflects well on rugby league and our competition.

“It’s not an award that rugby league is synonymous with so to know that our sport is getting recognition it makes me very proud to be at the forefront of it.”

On the season Wigan Warriors had this year, Peet added: “We never set out with that ambition, we set out with an ambition of improving and learning and we knew we had some big games along the way.

“Very proud of the players and the club from top to bottom. This is a town that takes great pride in its rugby league club so when we have a season like that, it’s important that we enjoy it and look to build now.

“You see the still photographs and the highlights around the club and you see the trophies, it brings back great memories. There’s so many people that you care about in those images and you know how much hard work’s gone into it, not just last season but in the build up to that.

“In all aspects of the club people are very committed here and I’m just made up for everyone, from the owner Mike (Danson) and CEO Kris (Radlinski), right through to the community staff and those that work in the academy. We’ve all got to take a great amount of pride in it.”