Wigan Warriors will have to be ‘excellent’ to beat Wakefield Trinity on Saturday night in the eyes of head coach Matt Peet, who has spoken to preview the Super League semi-final clash.
The Warriors had a bye for the first round of the play-offs because of the fact they finished top after the regular season and Wigan utilised that to undertake a training camp in Harrogate.
In comments made to the Wigan Warriors’ website, Peet explained the thought process behind that and how he feels it’s offered the best preparation, especially given how many young players in the squad are experiencing play-off rugby for the first time.
“We try and utilise [the week without a game] the best we can. You’ve got to take the reward and freshen up a little bit, but also get some work done as well,” he explained.
“Hopefully we’ve struck a good balance. Hopefully they enjoyed it and it puts us in a really good position to be prepared and have another good week’s training.”
On his squad, he admitted: “You are always learning, particularly about the young lads. That was the first time some of the young players had been away in a hotel with a team before. The energy is changing all the time when you’ve got young lads and developing players as you are finding new characters. You’re learning more about the individuals than anything else.”
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Wigan Warriors boss full of respect for opponents Wakefield
Wigan have beaten Wakefield on three occasions in 2026, twice in the league and once in the Challenge Cup, however, the most recent game was very competitive despite the scoreline reading 26-12 to the Warriors.
Looking ahead to Saturday night, Peet said: “Whichever team plays best will win. I just know we’ll have to be excellent to progress because Wakefield are a high quality team who will be coming very confident.”
Wakefield came past Leigh last Friday and are expected to take plenty of fans to Wigan on Saturday, something that will only make Wigan’s task harder and Peet was also keen to praise his opponents.
“Since Matt [Ellis] and Daryl [Powell] have taken over, they’ve been superb how they’ve built on and off the field,” he commented.
“The style they play has a lot to it, big powerful athletes and a detailed attacking shape, so there’s a lot for us to contend with. They certainly deserve to be in the Semi-Final and they’ll be determined to go one further.”
Should Wigan progress to the Grand Final, they will be going for an unprecedented second treble in just three years, with Peet also chasing his 10th trophy in just five years as a head coach.
