Wigan Warriors boss hails ‘unselfish’ veteran following Leigh Leopards win
Wigan Warriors' Willie Isa (circle) & head coach Matt Peet (main image)
It’s not often that Willie Isa gets on the scoresheet, but Wigan Warriors boss was delighted for the veteran following his try in their 40-12 win at Leigh Leopards, lauding the ‘unselfish’ work he does week in, week out.
This is Peet’s third season in charge of the Warriors, but Isa‘s try at the Leigh Sports Village – the second of eight on the night for the visitors – was his first of the boss’ tenure!
The last time the back-rower got over the try-line was back in September 2021 in a victory against Catalans Dragons, that the final regular season game of a campaign which would see Wigan finish 4th, dumped out of the play-offs on home soil by Leeds Rhinos the following week.
A lot has changed since then with Peet now the man at the helm and the club having won everything there is to win in the space of his first 66 games at the helm.
Having turned 35 on New Year’s Day, Isa is still a constant in the forward pack and – as Peet details – continues to put in the work in areas that sometimes don’t get the recognition they deserve.
Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet hails ‘unselfish’ veteran Willie Isa following try in Leigh Leopards win
In what was a dominant victory as Wigan took the bragging rights in 2024’s first ‘Battle of the Borough’, there weren’t many on the scoresheet who took so much acclaim from their team-mates as Isa, perhaps evidencing just how well thought of he is inside the Warriors’ camp.
Post-match, boss Peet said: “It’s very pleasing (to see him score the try) because he does so much unselfish work for us.
“When we were called upon to defend, Leigh have particularly good attacking shape through (Lachlan) Lam and (Matt) Moylan and I thought we looked very composed in the way we defended those plays, which isn’t easy to do.
“It takes a lot of work and a lot of people doing their jobs well and I thought we did that on the whole. Willie is critical there.
“He’s been playing well so far this season. I thought he was good last week, and he’s not involved in a lot of the highlight reel moments of games, but what he does do, his team-mates really appreciate.”
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