‘A great advert for Super League’ says Wigan coach following dramatic golden-point victory
Photo by Craig Cresswell/News Images.
Wigan boss Matt Peet hailed his side’s dramatic 26-22 golden point extra-time victory over Hull KR as a ‘great advert’ for the game live on Sky Sports.
A moment of magic from star man Bevan French in extra-time saw the Australian speedster produce a break and assist Liam Farrell to complete his hat-trick and score the match winner.
The Warriors had found themselves 22-14 down in the final 10 minutes of the game, before Liam Marshall grabbed his second and fellow winger Abbas Miski scored in the last second to level the scores, with Harry Smith only converting once on the night from five attempts.
Wigan went into the half-time break 10-4 up with a first half brace from Farrell, while Ryan Hall crossed for Hull KR’s first points of the night.
Winger Marshall extended the lead to 14-4, before Hull KR fought back through Matt Parcell, James Batchelor and a try from Luis Johnson on his first appearance for Hull KR of 2023 following his loan recall from Castleford.
Matt Peet: It was a great advert for Super League
Peet was an animated head coach as Farrell scored the winner, having previously lost 27-18 at Craven Park in the opening weekend of 2023.
“I thought it was a great advert for Super League,” Peet said on Sky Sports following the victory.
“We know that Hull KR are a quality team and I thought for large parts, they were the better team tonight and there were times that it won’t be a pretty watch [for us] with some of the things we did there and some of our discipline.
“One thing I can rarely doubt in this team is the never-say-die attitude.
“We spoke about it before the game and our last few weeks we’ve had to play like that because we haven’t been consistent enough with our actions.
“The endeavour, the commitment from the group makes me really proud.”
Wigan boss knows there’s improvements to be made
Despite the victory, Peet acknowledged that there’s still improvement to be made for his side, who sit second on the table now with 18 points and just behind Warrington.
The side fell to back-to-back league defeats against Hull and Leeds respectively in recent weeks, before securing their spot in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup with a hard-fought 18-14 win at Headingley Stadium.
“We need to improve on tonight, but we’ll enjoy this one,” Peet continued.
“I thought we did some poor things with and without the ball, our discipline, our ends to sets and we lacked of composure.
“But I will stress that I am proud of the lads and I will always enjoy working with the group who are so committed and fight until the end.”
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