Adrian Lam confident Wigan could appoint new head coach from within
Lam, who is returning to Australia after three seasons at the helm, says former England captain Sean O’Loughlin, who joined the backroom staff after hanging up his boots last November, and long-standing assistant John Winder would also make good Super League head coaches.
“What I’ve been really proud of here is the staff that have been working with me,” Lam told his weekly press conference ahead of Saturday’s game at Hull.
“I’ve got 11 staff as we speak and they’ve all been outstanding and they’d all do a great job in any role.
“Matty, John and Sean could all coach a Super League club in their own time. I’ve been proud of them and, if that’s an option for the club, so be it. They’ll decide and settle on that in the near future.”
Peet has been with Wigan for the best part of 13 years after taking charge of the scholarship in 2008 and climbing through the ranks.
He was later appointed as the club’s performance coach before leaving in 2018 to become head of performance at Sale Sharks and returned in 2019 to become Lam’s first-team assistant.
READ: Six potential candidates to be next Wigan head coach
Meanwhile, Tommy Leuluai could be Coach of the Year next season if he was to take charge of a team, according to his former Wigan team-mate Sam Tomkins.
Leuluai, 36, who is off-contract at the end of the season, is expected to join Wigan’s coaching staff whenever he decides to hang up his boots.
And the former New Zealand international has received huge praise from Tomkins, who thinks he would be a towering success the coaching world.
“I’ve got good friends who can dissect a game unbelievably,” Tomkins told the State of Mind Talks podcast.
“Tommy Leuluai could be coach of the year next year if he got a team, I truly believe that.
“You’ll talk about a defence you are playing against and I know my markers. I know if I’m playing Wakefield and Reece Lyne turns in then I know what I’m going to do but Tommy will know from the bloke in the middle of the field to the bloke on the wing. He will dissect everything.”