Wakefield Trinity signing Olly Russell reveals what Matt Peet said before exiting Wigan Warriors as a youngster

BORN in Oldham, Olly Russell grew up a Wigan Warriors player.

Having signed a three-year deal (the third in Wigan’s favour) with the Super League club’s academy, Russell went on to stay for just two seasons before joining the Huddersfield Giants.

And it was a conversation with then Wigan academy boss – Matt Peet – that saw the 26-year-old halfback look elsewhere.

“I was in the Wigan academy and I probably wasn’t the most professional at that time – I was overweight and wasn’t in the right shape,” Russell admitted on the Super League Raw podcast.

“I had a three-year academy deal at Wigan and the third was in Wigan’s favour but Matt Peet came up to me at the start of the second year.

“He said ‘our pathways are such that we don’t think we are going to give you your third year of the deal.’

“He said ‘you can stay here, go on and probably win another Grand Final which you will probably play in or we’ve got a chance at Huddersfield for you.’

“I spoke to Andy Kelly (now director of rugby at the Giants) at Huddersfield and I thought it was the best thing for me at the time.

“It was my second chance to have a real crack at making it into a Super League team. I needed that change.”

After making the move to Huddersfield, Russell went on to play 102 games in six years for the Giants before signing for Wakefield Trinity ahead of the 2025 Super League season.