Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet has praised the work of partner club Newcastle Thunder in helping to develop some of their brightest young stars.
They have a dual-registration agreement in place with the Championship side, who are led by two former Warriors players in head coach Eamon O’Carroll and director of rugby Denis Betts.
Wigan also have two players on season-long loans there and one of those, Matty Nicholson, was recalled last week to make his first-team debut in Super League.
Although the team was beaten by Huddersfield Giants, it was a memorable night for the 18-year-old forward as he came off the bench in the second half to score two tries.
Peet was full of praise afterwards for the work done by the north-east outfit to aid Nicholson’s development in recent months.
He said: “We know Matthew’s capability; he’s got good rugby sense and it showed with his support play.
“He carried strongly while he was on. Hopefully we’ll see more of Matthew.
“It’s credit to the work of Newcastle and the work they’ve done with him, through Eamon O’Carroll and Denis Betts.
“He’s actually in their system more than he’s in ours so it just shows the benefit of what they’ve been doing with him.
“He’s been full-time there; he just comes (back to Wigan) for his reviews and some feedback from the coaches and we catch up with him regarding his programme. If they’ve got fixtures, he pretty much lives up there and spends the full week there.
“It just shows how it can benefit us. They’re a full-time organisation and we work closely with them. Matty loves it. Sam Halsall (who also scored two tries against Huddersfield last week) benefitted from it last year.”
Nicholson was one of two Warriors debutants last week alongside Logan Astley, another 18-year-old who has spent time on loan at Oldham this year.
“I’ve been happy with Logan’s progression this year, whether it’s with Oldham, our reserve grade or the way he trains,” said Peet.
“He handled (his debut) physically, which, with Logan being a young halfback, would be anyone’s major concern, and I have every confidence in throwing him in again. We all think a lot of him.”
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