Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet lauded the club culture after beating St Helens to secure a top-two Super League finish.
They denied their rivals the League Leaders’ Shield on Friday night with two Bevan French tries and scores from Jai Field, Liam Farrell and Liam Marshall.
But most impressive was the defensive work to limit Saints to only two tries of their own, which Peet put down to the culture.
He said: “The commitment shown for one another, the desire to defend the goalline; that element of the performance makes us proud. We showed a hell of a lot of commitment to one another.
“This town is built on hard work and sticking together. That’s what makes us proud. The team on the field was what we want to be about.
“You can teach anyone set moves and how to defend. But when you get a group who run their blood to water for one another and throw their body on the line; that’s pure desire.”
In attack Wigan were clinical, and Peet putting that down to the way they took on their rivals.
“Some of those opportunities came from good defence, some came from quick transitions,” he said.
“Some of those balls that come loose, you could just dive on them and kill them, but we looked to play and move the ball, we got our eyes up.
“Saints were clearly the team that won the arm wrestle but there’s more to a game than that.
“Any team that plays St Helens has to come through difficult positions. They build pressure really well and you’ve got to be comfortable in those positions.
“You’re not to have a game where you dominate field position, but it doesn’t mean you can’t post points.”
